


Do You See What I See

by EdgarAllenPoet



Series: Dads of Marmora [11]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Ending, Alternate Realities, An AU from my AU about AUs, Blood, Galra Keith (Voltron), Gen, Just in the first chapter though, Keith (Voltron) Angst, Miscommunication, That's too many AUs, Violence, dads of marmora, questionable parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-08
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-01-10 14:16:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 26,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12300840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EdgarAllenPoet/pseuds/EdgarAllenPoet
Summary: "It was a good thing the lion could fly itself, because Akira couldn’t even begin to understand the controls, and Keith had been delirious for the better part of their journey."Alternate ending for "Lost in Translation."





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> As said above, this is an alternate ending to "Lost in Translation." I promise that if you haven't read that, you're not going to have any idea what's going on here. 
> 
> A lot of people wanted to see Kolivan deck it out with au Kolivan, and more of Akira, and PipeDreamPrayer got me thinking about Akira interacting with the other paladins, and now here we are. My Dads of Marmora series is running away with me. 
> 
> Takes over chapter five when Keith agrees to cooperate with Akira’s escape plan. Enjoy :)

“Your armor is not here,” Akira said, standing up properly and pulling Keith up off the floor with him.  Keith shrugged him off roughly as soon as he had his feet back underneath him.  His behavior was strange, but now was not the time to ponder it.  Not with that voice roaring in his head, demanding that they depart  _ now _ . 

 

Keith spoke like an echo of the lion, giving a nod as he said, “Let’s go.”

 

They took off down the hallway, Keith’s steps making too much noise as he sprinted after Akira.  This hallway would be empty for another few quintents assuming the Blade on patrol that night stuck to the schedule.  But while the Blade was known for their strict adherence to protocol, they were also known for being wildly unpredictable.  This whole situation had Akira nervous and on edge.  

 

He had to pause occasionally, skidding to a stop before turning corners with Keith narrowly avoiding running into his back every time.  He was so  _ clumsy _ .  But Keith never actually ran into him or fell over, and Antok supposed he should be thankful for that.  It wasn’t long before they reached the door to the Leader’s office, and Akira threw a hand out to signal they were stopping.  

 

They came to a stop and Akira slipped his hand through the gap in the door, a result of the writing utensil he’d jammed in their earlier to leave the office unlocked.  He’d been  _ planning _ to sneak back in there and scour for information about their new prisoner, but the voice calling to him had different plans. 

 

It sounded just like the lion ships that had talked to him on the Empire base.  The words he’d heard there had been haunting him, sticking in his head like a catchy song playing over and over again, like the ones from Thace’s old files that he’d broken out on occasion when Akira was young. 

 

The voice said that Keith had to go, it was now or never, and Akira needed to help him.  Something felt wrong about keeping him locked up there, anyways.  It wasn’t just the frightening resemblance or the fact that Keith was the first human they’d had at the base in Akira’s lifetime.  It was the look of pure desperation on his face when Kolivan settled his fate, when he’d called him a liar. 

 

Akira loved and respected his father, but the Leader was stubborn and far too cautious.  If he wouldn’t let Keith go because of some stupid principle or fear, then Akira would do it himself. 

 

The voice speaking to him reverberated with wisdom beyond any of their lifetimes, and when it came down to it, Akira knew who he had to obey. 

 

If they could get away with this without the Blades finding out, even better.  That was the plan. 

 

“Keep watch, and if anyone sees you, run,” he said to Keith, who was already breathing hard from exertion and clutching at his side like he was injured, a pained sweat decorating his brow.  

 

But Keith could worry about that himself once they got him back to his ship.  Akira pulled the door open and slipped inside, and the armor was right where Kolivan had left it, on the highest cubby against the wall, tucked into the ceiling.  It was easy to climb to retrieve it, and mere ticks later, Akira was slipping back out the door and letting it silently close behind him.  He held the bundle of armor and weapons under his arm, tugged Keith by the wrist, and ran. 

 

The hangar wasn’t terribly far away. 

 

“I cannot open the doors, so your lion will have to blast them free,” Akira said as they scrambled into the hangar and closed the door behind them.  He actually had to take a second of awe when he turned around, because the lion was larger than he’d realized at the Empire base.  It stood so many stories above them, metallic head nearly scraping the ceiling of the hangar.  It was running, eyes gleaming like beacons and staring straight down at them.  It almost seemed to be alive. 

 

Hell, considering the voice, maybe it was. 

 

Akira shook his thoughts free and centered himself.  “You leave,” he instructed Keith.  “I need to go back.”  He shoved the bundle of armor at Keith and gave him a push towards the lion ship.  They didn’t patrol this area too often, knowing the alarms would scan for any trouble outside the hangar, so they had a bit of breathing room, but Akira still didn’t like to risk it.  

 

Keith took a few steps then turned back to him.  “Aren’t you going to get in trouble for this?” he asked, and that was a curious thing for him to be concerned about, but still a good point. 

 

Oh well.  Akira was mostly confident about this, and one of the things he’d learned long ago was compensation.  In positions of leadership it was okay to be afraid, but it wasn’t okay to let others know.  Akira gave Keith a smile and winked, going for comeraderie.  “You going to tell on me?” he teased.

 

Keith laughed at that, the first smile Akira had seen from him.  Akira had caught his own smile in reflections.  His and Keith’s were identical. 

 

Keith’s mouth opened like he was going to respond, but then the growling grew louder inside Akira’s head, an impatient roar.  Keith’s eyes crinkled in the vaguest wince while his mouth snapped closed, and he shifted his weight from one foot to the other.  He was so emotive it was  _ ridiculous _ .  

 

“Thanks for the help,” Keith said, taking a step backwards towards the lion and away from Akira.  Akira nodded, and he started towards the exit when he sensed someone moving on the other side of the door.

 

“Oh no,” he whispered, and Keith’s eyes widened. 

 

“What?”

 

The lion actually moved, then, and the sounds of grinding metal echoed through the hangar as Akira took another step back.  “You have to go,” Akira said, reaching Keith and pushing him along.  “ _ Now _ .” 

 

But then it was too late.  The door swished open and Kolivan’s voice was loud enough to rival the din of the lion.  He yelled Akira’s name as he and several others- Thace, Antok, Mirni, and Patze- piled through the door.  All but Kolivan had their masks over their faces.  All including Kolivan had their Blades out and ready.  

 

“He is not to be out of his cell!” Kolivan ordered.  “Seize him!” 

 

Apparently it was a thing now for Akira to disobey orders.  Oh well, they had to do this the hard way then.  He steeled his resolve, stepped forward as a barrier between Keith and his leader, and responded, “No.” 

 

He watched as the look on Kolivan’s face shifted from concerned and angry to absolute, untethered rage.  Akira raised his chin and suppressed the urge to cower.

 

Kolivan took a few more steps further, and Akira matched him, taking that same number of steps back, slowly moving Keith towards the lion.  “How dare-” Kolivan started to say, and Akira cut him off.  He really didn’t want to hear him finish that sentence. 

 

“Just let him go!” Akira argued back.  “You know he does not belong here!” 

 

“That is not your decision to make!” 

 

“Why should it be yours!?” Kolivan stopped in his tracks, but Akira saw the way his jaw tightened, saw the other Blades raise their weapons in preparation for a fight.  Akira unsheathed his own and twirled it into position.  “Keith,” he said, not breaking eye contact with Kolivan.  “You go, I will hold them off.” 

 

“You will not!” Kolivan roared, stepping towards them, and that was when all hell broke loose. 

 

The roaring that had filled Akira’s head now filled the room around them as the lion started to move.  The sound and the movement were enough to shake the floor underneath them.  Patze actually lost his balance and stumbled.  Kolivan charged forward, and Akira stood his ground.  Keith hesitated for a second too long before tossing his armor to the side, running to join Akira, and activating his Blade.

 

Akira didn’t know he could do that.  Too bad he’d never get the chance to ask.

 

“What are you doing!?” he shouted, “Go!” 

 

“I’m not letting you fight alone!” Keith yelled back at him. 

 

“You have to!” 

 

It could have been disastrous, but then Antok did the last thing Akira would ever expect him to.  He pulled Kolivan back and moved to stand between them, saying, “Think about what you are doing!” 

 

Akira didn’t stick around to hear their argument.  He grabbed Keith by the uniform and took off in a full sprint across the hangar.  Unfortunately, Thace had no problem keeping up with them. 

 

“I do not want to hurt you,” he said, grabbing at Keith, who swung with a kick and his Blade, both of which Thace dodged. 

 

“Then let him go,” Akira said, using Thace’s distraction to knock his grip free and shove the butt of his Blade against the side of his head.  Keith took off running the first chance he got.  Akira grimaced and joined him.  Stars, he was so dead, but he was too deep in now.  He had to see this through. 

 

“Blast through the doors and go,” he ordered.  “I hope you can fly out of here!” 

 

“Me too!” Keith shouted back.  

 

Mirni was gaining on them, so Akira picked up an abandoned gear, diameter as wide as Akira’s arm was long, off the ground and threw it.  It caught Mirni in the gut and took him down.

 

They were so close.  The lion stooped to a crouch and opened its mouth, apparently letting Keith in.  They were seconds away from going through with this when Akira heard a shout.

 

Antok cried, “No!” and Kolivan yelled, and Akira watched in slow motion as Kolivan’s Blade flew through the air and sliced right across Keith’s side.  It clattered to the ground behind him, metal ringing against metal, glistening red with blood.  Keith stumbled to his knees with a cry, clutching at the wounded area.  Akira was out of options. 

 

Keith was heavier than he expected him to be as Akira swung him up over his shoulder and took off across the room.  

 

“Brace yourself!” he shouted, and from the direction he was headed they had to know exactly what he was doing.  The switch for the airlock sat embedded in the wall, and they’d design it to not only open the hatch but also create a clear path between the magnetic pull of their blue star and the two black holes surrounding them.

 

Akira had never paid attention to Ulaz’s lectures about the physics, but he knew what it could do- that was, create a supercharged vacuum from the mouth of the hangar and the edge of the magnetic field. 

 

It wasn’t too powerful inside the hangar, but outside it would be like a rocket.   

 

Antok grabbed onto Kolivan and held him down.  Everyone else held onto something for cover.  Someone shouted for him, but Akira was beyond listening.  They had a small time window for this to work, and Akira could spare any for second thoughts.  He slammed his hand down on the panel to open the vacuum, pushed off against the mouth of the opening, and launched the two of them into space. 

 

He trusted the lion to be able to fly itself (it  _ moved _ by itself and  _ talked _ , it ought to be capable of basic autopilot functions), and he was more than relieved when he was right.  Keith’s hands clutching onto him and his own fists curled tightly into the material of Keith’s uniform were the only sensations keeping him grounded.  Nothing else was tangible.  He felt on fire from the nearby star but freezing from the emptiness of space and the wind of the vacuum, which was deafening and made his ears feel like they were bleeding.  He couldn’t see.  He couldn’t  _ breathe _ .  If the lion didn’t catch them before they exited the vacuum, they’d be dead.  They couldn’t survive open space.  Akira had only heard a dozen lectures about it.

 

Akira didn’t see it happen, but he felt the presence closing in.  Something huge and dark and looming, something out of this world and any other, and then they were hitting the ground- something hard and metal, and the sound of a closing hatch echoed around them.  

 

He picked his head up and looked around, then struggled onto shaking legs and dragged a now unconscious Keith behind him, up the ramp, and into the cockpit.  The lion said,  _ “Hold on _ ” before roaring, and a wall of light appeared before them.  Then it was like they were back in the vacuum, and Akira was falling.  He didn’t even feel himself hit the ground. 

  
  
  
  


…

  
  


“Approaching destination,” a robotic voice chimed to Ulaz as the pings of his locator increased gradually.  He could see the blue star of home now, had been able to for a good while, originally as a tiny, shining dot on the horizon.  Now it took up a good deal of his viewfinder.  He’d be home in less than a varga, and then he’d have some answers. 

 

Or so he thought.  

 

The message he’d received had been simple: come home.  It hadn’t told him why, or what he was coming home to.  He was hoping for the best, and preparing himself for the worst, but no amount of deep breathing could have prepared himself for the scene in front of him. 

 

More questions than answers.  An entire lifetime in this war, and he was still getting surprised.  He really ought to have outgrown that by now. 

 

He watched in awe as the vacuum from the hangar was activated, cutting a clear path through the gravity fields like the stroke of a paint brush.  Immediately after he watched as a magnificent ship, huge and shaped like a… like a lion burst out of the hangar.  His censors told him two people were flying through the vacuum, which was, well… which was  _ bad _ .  Then the lion ship approached them, and  _ ate _ them, and ticks later one of their own cruisers was shooting out of the Blade of Marmora headquarters and chasing the lion ship through the vacuum. 

 

The lion opened its mouth, and Ulaz watched as a burst of light cut the scene in half, opening a portal as wide as their star.  They flew straight for it, the Marmora ship following closely, and well… Ulaz’s message had said to come home, but he was a man of science and an adventurer.  He couldn’t turn down a mystery with good conscious.  

 

Ulaz pressed down on the acceleration and shot across the gap between them.  The lion went first, disappearing straight into the screen of light.  Ticks later the Marmora ship followed, and Ulaz was close behind.  He saw the edges of the field start to crumble, felt the energy of the portal glow hotter.  He pressed on the acceleration and braced himself, then he disappeared into the light.

  
  
  


…

  
  


“How do you not know where the medical supplies are?  This is  _ your ship _ !” 

Keith groaned and dropped his head back against the pilot’s seat with a  _ thud _ that he barely felt.  He’d been in a great deal of pain when he’d woken up, spread eagle on the cockpit floor of the Black Lion, floating peacefully through space and laid out next to his unconscious alter ego.  He’d groaned and then screamed, and Akira had woken in a panic while Keith was in the process of trying to tear his own shirt off to use it as a bandage. 

 

Akira had used his Blade and a spare blanket in a storage unit near control panel to make some sort of bandage, and together they’d wrapped him up tight and maneuvered him into the pilot’s seat so he could keep an eye on things.  

 

Keith twisted as much as he could bare to glance back at Akira where he was rooting around in storage.  The place looked like a murder scene.  There was blood all over the floor, an alarming puddle where Keith had passed out, but also a smeared trail coming up the ramp and a scattered trail of drips leading to the pilot’s seat.  The upper half of his Marmora uniform was pulled down and tied around his hips the way they used to wear the mechanic’s jump suits back at the Garrison- the way they still sometimes wore their body suits when they were too lazy to take  _ all _ their armor off. 

 

The uniform was also soaked through with blood and was making a mess of the seat.  Keith was smeared from his fingertips to his elbows, and if the Marmora suit wasn’t  _ black _ , Keith was pretty sure Akira would be red from waist to shoulder.  There was even a smudge of blood on his cheek. 

 

They were kind of a disaster. 

 

“It’s not my ship,” Keith argued.  God, talking was hard.  His head felt too heavy, and he knew it was a symptom of the blood loss.  Ugh.  Blood.  Keith felt nauseous.  It was all he could do to keep his stomach settled and not hurl over the edge of his seat, mixing vomit into the puddle of blood. 

 

Okay, no, bad thought.  Keith choked back the bile rising in his throat and shut his eyes. More than anything he wanted to curl up tight and take a long nap, but curling up would hurt like a bitch, and Coran had lectured them about this before.  If he closed his eyes now, there was a good chance they wouldn’t open back up.  Keith forced his eyes open and fixed his gaze on the control panel.  He had to stay awake, so he made himself talk.  

 

“It’s Shiro’s ship.  I don’t know how he organizes things.” 

 

“Who is Shiro?”  That question was too complicated to answer in its entirety, and maybe it was the blood loss talking, but thinking about it made Keith tear up a little.  He cleared his throat.

 

“My brother,” he answered.  “Kind of.” 

 

“Kind of?” 

 

Fuck, Keith really didn’t want to get into it.  “We’re not related,” he answered with a flat voice.  “And he’s missing.”  

 

Why had he said that?  Why was he telling  _ Akira _ that?  

 

“My condolences,” Akira replied, obviously uncomfortable as he reappeared at Keith’s side.  He was cradling another blanket in his arms, but no medical supplies.  Maybe Shiro didn’t even have any.  “You are shivering,” he said, draping the blanket over Keith and tucking it in around him.  “Are you cold?” 

 

Keith couldn’t really feel anything.  The pain had grown worse and worse, but it had been like dropping off a cliff.  Higher and higher and then- nothing.  “I don’t know.” 

 

There were hands under Keith’s jaw, but he couldn’t figure out how to move them away.  “You are sweating,” Akira said.  “Your heart rate is fast.” 

 

Keith rolled his head to the side to get a better look at Akira and resisted the temptation to close his eyes.  “Maybe I’m dying,” he said, thinking about the time he and Shiro had crash landed on the lizard planet.  Shiro had made all kinds of morbid jokes.  He’d scared the hell out of Keith with them.

 

But Keith couldn’t remember any of them.  He wasn’t good at jokes on the fly- had to think and come up with them.  But thinking was hard right now, so Keith just let out a sigh and closed his eyes instead. 

 

“Hey!” the side of his face stung, and Keith opened his eyes to see Akira standing over him, hand out.  “You are not dying after I abandoned my family to save you,” he said.  

 

His family?  What family?  Keith looked Akira up and down before remembering.  Oh right, the Blade of Marmora.  

 

“I like mine better,” he said.  “They’re good guys.  Teachin’ me how to fight.” 

 

“Do you not already know how?” Akira asked, and Keith shook his head. 

 

“I do.  Not enough.  Space is weird.”  His eyes drifted shut again, but he forced them back open before Akira could smack him.  A wave of cold rushed over him, and he realized he was shivering.  

 

“Fuck,” he said.  Akira felt at his pulse again, fingers hot against Keith’s skin.  

 

“Deeper breaths,” he instructed.  “You are going to hyperventilate.” 

 

“No I’m not,” Keith argued, and consciously slowed down his breathing.  “I feel sick.” 

 

“You will be fine.” 

 

“I can’t believe Kolivan stabbed me.  One of them slice open my arm before, but your guy actually tried to  _ kill me _ .”  

 

It shouldn’t have been that big of a surprise, probably.  People were trying to kill Keith all the time, and Keith had killed more people than he could count at this point.  He tried not to think about it.  Thinking about it made him have panic attacks in the training room at four a.m.  Thinking about it made Hunk cry and made Pidge work herself practically into a coma.  Thinking about it made Lance get far too quiet and fade into the background, like if he stood still and said nothing nobody would see him starting to fall apart. 

 

Thinking about it made Shiro the way he was, an empty version of the person Keith remembered from the Garrison. 

 

What if the war did that to all of them?  What if it already had?  Keith couldn’t remember himself before finding the Blue Lion, and he didn’t want to.  Earth hadn’t held any kindness for him.  The best things he’d found in life had been in space.  He hadn’t known the others well either, so he had nothing to compare it to, but it had to be having its effects.  It had to be breaking them apart.

 

Keith wondered who Kolivan and Antok-  _ his _ Kolivan and Antok- were before the war.  He wondered if they even remembered. 

 

“Hey,” Akira said again, tapping at Keith’s face in a way that was probably meant to be gentle but wasn’t.  “Talk to me.  Come on.” 

 

“Do you remember your life before the war?” Keith asked, the first question that came to mind.  Maybe Akira remembered himself, remembered their home.  Maybe Akira remembered their  _ mom _ , some detail that Keith didn’t have, something else that he could piece together. 

 

He barely remembered anything.  His mind had been too young to hold onto the memories, and all he had were some vague ideas, a few distant feelings.  He remembered more about his dad, but that was a sour topic in and of itself.  Not exactly something he wanted to think about while he was dying. 

 

Oh God, Keith was dying. 

 

“I remember a song,” Akira said, sitting on the arm of the pilot’s seat and tapping at Keith’s face again.  “Hey, eyes open.  I remember a song my father sang when I was small.” 

 

Keith’s breath escaped him in one quick, bitter laugh.  “Yeah,” he said.  “I know.  Antok knows it too.” 

 

A shy smile spread over Akira’s face as he hummed quietly.  “They sang it to me too,” he said.  “When I was really little.  I almost forgot about that….”

 

“They didn’t,” Keith said, and there was just not enough will power in the world to force his eyes open after that.  He faded in and out, stomach tossing like he was falling as he dipped into sleep. 

 

“Hey,” Akira’s voice called to him.  “Keith.  Hey!  Wake up!” 

 

“‘M awake,” Keith said, but his words slurred together.  He opened his eyes again.  Fuck, where  _ were _ they?  He expected Shiro to be sitting next to him, or even Lance or Coran, but the person there was none of them.  It was… Keith?  Keith was sitting next to himself in the Black Lion, and apparently he was hallucinating.  

 

Weird.

 

He let his eyes fall closed again. 

 

“Hang in there, man, wake up,” a voice pleaded with him.  

 

Keith forced his eyes open.  “Hey….” A distant memory tickled the back of his mind.  Ahead of them flew a ship larger than Keith had ever seen, white and beautifully designed, definitely not from Earth.  Keith blinked, and it didn’t go away.  “I know that place,” he said.

 

Akira asked, “You do?  Are you sure?”  but Keith couldn’t answer him.  He couldn’t do anything but close his eyes and sleep. 

  
  
  


…

  
  
  


The lion set down heavy in the loading bay of a ship he didn’t recognize, but that didn’t matter.  The hangar quickly sealed shut, but even before it did, Akira was on his feet and getting them out.  He lifted Keith out of the pilot’s seat and held him as steady as he could manage as he ran out of the cockpit and down the ramp, into the foreign ship that Keith had apparently recognized and the lion had decided to board. 

 

It was a good thing the lion could fly itself, because Akira couldn’t even begin to understand the controls, and Keith had been delirious for the better part of their journey.

 

Now he was unconscious, and cold, and barely breathing.  He was dying, and damn it, Akira hadn’t risked everything he had in the world to watch this kid die.  He nearly tripped on his way down the ramp and into the hangar, but he caught his balance just in time. 

 

At the bottom, though, he had to come to a stop as a group of strangers flooded into the room.  They were all people like he’d never seen, an array of skin colors and builds, two with pointed ears and strange marks that didn’t match the others.  Were they human?  They had to be human.  They didn’t look like anything else. 

 

Who knew they could all look so different? 

 

They had to be Keith’s people then, right?  It was unlikely there was more than one group of earthlings flying around the galaxy. 

 

Whatever they were, they were the only option Akira had.  “Help!” he said, rushing forward.  None of them were holding weapons.  “My friend is hurt.  Please!” 

 

The oldest among them, with bright matching hair on his face and his lip, rushed forward and took Keith out of his arms.  “Hunk.  Assistance,” he snapped, and another pulled away from the crowd and rushed out of the room with him.  Akira wanted to go after them, wanted to know where they were going.  But the rest of the humans were staring at him with defensive body language and cautious eyes.  

 

The tallest of them spoke, some skinny looking thing who looked like he’d blow over in the wind.  He took a step forward and asked, “Um… Keith?” 

 

And then the door swished open again, and Akira’s blood ran cold. Kolivan stepped through the doorway, then he took one look at Akira and stopped in his tracks.  His face was aged and scarred, his armor faded from wear, his hair braided.  He didn’t wear his mask or hood, and his ears sagged. 

 

He looked over Akira, and it only deepened his frown. 

 

Something was wrong here, Akira realized.  Very, very wrong.


	2. Show Me Everything Tell Me How

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "This was war, and Keith was a leader with no real authority, so he just shut up and stepped back."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On one hand, I’m sorry this took so damn long!! Jfc, edgar, get a grip. On the other hand, a comment I received yesterday helped shape a piece of this chapter (you know who you are ;) ) so yeah.

“I was wondering where you wandered off.”  Keith didn’t think he would ever get used to the sound of his own voice from someone else’s mouth.  He had to admit that what he was doing was cowardly.  He’d left Akira behind with the rest of his team and disappeared as soon as he was able, and sure he could give the excuse of bonding with the Black Lion, but in reality he was just using the lion as a hiding place.

 

Akira asked, “Are you alright?” and Keith closed his eyes and sighed, sinking back against the wall he was leaning against and spreading his legs out in front of him.  He’d given up sitting in the pilot’s chair not long ago.  It was too much, sitting in Shiro’s place and being purposefully ignored.  He couldn’t take it, but he couldn’t leave, so he sat on the floor and rested his eyes.

 

“I’m fine,” he said, but he wasn’t.  Everything was out of order, especially in his own head.  He’d been bleeding out in the Black Lion, and he’d woken up in a healing pod.  The team hadn’t been there when he’d come out, just Akira, and it had been several long, agonizing minutes while everything got sorted out.  He couldn’t trust that he was in the castle ship- couldn’t be sure- but they’d cleared it up afterwards.

 

After Keith came down from the panic attack that had practically swallowed him alive, when Coran had herded everyone out of the room and sat on the floor next to Keith, talking him through remembering how to breathe.  Keith felt  _ weak. _  He felt  _ ridiculous _ . 

 

He’d failed as a leader, he’d failed at his own escape, and now he’d failed to make a dignified return.  Shiro had done all of those things, by himself and with a tremendous show of strength.  Keith had no idea how to keep up.

 

The events and the mindset from the past week were haunting him.  He didn’t know how to fill the shoes he was given.

 

Probably never would. 

 

“What are you doing up here?” Akira asked, coming over and leaning against the control panel.  He closed his eyes for a moment and frowned.  “Is she speaking to you?”

 

No, she wasn’t.  In fact, the Black Lion might as well have been a museum piece- a model set up for them to investigate and move around, almost like a shell of its designed function, unresponsive and silent.  He’d been here for about an hour, pleading with the lion to just  _ help him out _ or  _ give him a clue _ , because his team wanted to know what had happened and how, and Keith didn’t have any of the answers. 

 

The best they could come up with- a combination of Keith’s broken recollection and Kolivan’s theories and Pidge, Hunk, and Coran’s scientific understanding- was that the Black Lion could generate portals, much like the castle.  But instead of using Allura’s magic to make wormholes, the Black Lion used its own magic to break the wall between realities.

 

It was just a hypothesis, but it was the only idea they had.  Two bigger questions remained- why had the Black Lion jumped realities in the first place, and why wouldn’t it turn back on now? 

 

Keith had a feeling he knew the answer to at least one of those questions.  When the Black Lion had sent them to the alternate reality in the first place, he’d been bound and determined to follow Lotor.  His team had been begging him not to.  The Black Lion had demanded that he draw back.  He hadn’t listened to any of them, then there was a bright flash of light, and Keith woke up somewhere foreign. 

 

But he couldn’t tell them that.  Couldn’t lay down that failure out loud in front of everyone.  Not yet. 

 

He had to get out there, do better, redeem himself.  

 

He had to prove he could succeed before he could admit he failed.  Failed badly enough that the Black Lion had stepped in. 

 

God damn divine intervention.  What a disaster. 

 

“You look better than earlier,” Akira said, and Keith actually snorted. 

 

“Not bleeding out anymore,” he grumbled, then rubbed his hand over his face.  Yeah, that had been a disaster.  He didn’t know who had cleaned the Black Lion, but he had to find out and thank them.  It couldn’t have been a fun job.  Keith’s memories from the flight home were hazy and jagged, but if there was anything he wasn’t forgetting soon, it was the sight of the cockpit painted in blood.

 

He couldn’t have made it home by himself.  Shit, he couldn’t have gotten out of the base without help.  If Akira hadn’t been there, he’d be lying dead in the wrong reality, the Black Lion lost, his team without a clue. 

 

He really owed it to Akira.  This wasn’t something he could just leave to rest.  “Hey…” he said, and Akira perked up a little bit.  Keith cleared his throat and shifted in his chair.  He was so bad at this stuff.  “Thanks… you really saved my ass out there.  And I know it was a huge….” 

 

Akira’s face grew sullen, and Keith trailed off.  Right, of course.  He wouldn’t want to talk about it either. 

 

“Anyways.  Thanks.” 

 

“Of course,” Akira agreed, and they fell silent again.  Eventually, after minutes of Keith wracking his brain for the right thing to say or action to take, Akira sunk down to the floor and folded his legs underneath him.  He sat close, but not close enough that Keith was uncomfortable, and he let the silence sit heavy and pleasant between them.  He reached behind himself and pulled his braid down over his shoulder, started to fidget with the end of it with nervous fingers, using both of his hands. 

 

They were bound together in front of him with magnetic cuffs, not terribly restricting, but enough that he would have to think twice before attacking any of them.  Keith had tried to talk Allura and Kolivan out of it, because he knew beyond the semblance of a doubt that Akira wouldn’t pull anything. 

 

But this was war, and Keith was a leader with no real authority, so he just shut up and stepped back. 

 

Now, with the silence settling over the cockpit like a blanket, Keith let himself close his eyes and rest his head back against the wall.  He breathed deep once, twice, and felt the tension start to ooze out of him.  He was so tired.  He needed to go back into the pod for another couple years.

 

Eventually, though, just when Keith was starting to drift off, Akira shifted next to him and said, “Maybe we should go back to the others.” 

 

He was right, of course.  Pidge ought to have been getting close at updating the castle’s tracking systems.  There’d been a mysterious ship trailing their perimeter earlier- that had been the whole reason the team hadn’t been there when he’d woken up.  They’d been distracted and ready to suit up and then found absolutely nothing.  

 

Allura would want to discuss it the second it was done, so Keith figured they ought to get a move on before someone came looking for them.  Akira had already found him pretty easily, and he was a stranger.  Keith needed a better hiding place.

 

“Okay,” Keith said, standing and holding a hand down to help Akira to his feet. “Let’s go.”

  
  


….

  
  


“There’s  _ nothing _ ,” Pidge lamented, sliding down in her seat until she was at risk of falling out of it, rubbing her hands over her eyes and knocking her glasses up on her forehead, going boneless as if sitting up straight required an amount of energy she no longer possessed. 

 

“What do you mean nothing?” Allura demanded, leaning in and poking at the screen, as if she was going to see something their resident tech-genius hadn’t yet.  Hunk leaned in as well, examining the screen with squinted eyes.  Lance caught Antok’s gaze across the room and shrugged.  Antok stared back blankly. 

 

“Listen, their cloaking tech must be incredible,” Pidge said, shoving herself back up and jabbing a finger at the flickering screen.  It was shattered into eight different segments, each displaying either an ever changing security feed from outside the castle walls or a blinking sensor- both read that everything was at peace and empty.  As far as the data was concerned, they were entirely alone. 

 

But they hadn’t been.  The only reason they hadn’t all been waiting in the medbay was because a sensor picked up someone trying to board, and an alarm had gone off and pulled them all away.  It’d been just for a second, they’d explained later.  Blink and you miss it. 

 

Well, they’d missed it, and now it was gone. 

 

“I want to get my hands on them just to ask them questions,” Pidge continued, taking her glasses off and cleaning them briefly before shoving them back onto her face.  “I mean, sure, we use reflective tech to blend in, but these guys were beyond invisible!”

 

“Oh! I read a book about that once.  The wizards used this spell to go undetectable, so they wouldn’t leave footprints or anything,” Hunk supplied.  Sometimes he spat out nerd talk beyond what any of them could hope to comprehend.  Sometimes he said stuff like that. 

 

“We sure could have used a spell like that at the Garrison,” Lance added, and the conversation was officially off topic. 

 

“Would have spent a lot less time in detention, no thanks to you-”

 

“Hey!” 

 

“Are humans capable of using magic?” Coran asked, pulling out a data pad like he was going to start taking notes, officially interested.

 

“So they’re just gone?” Keith asked Pidge, trying to pull everyone back into place. 

 

Pidge shrugged and said, “Either they left or they’re hiding.” 

 

“There’s no known tech that would allow them to hide this well for this long,” Kolivan answered, and Keith had to suppress a flinch.  He’d forgotten he was even in the room.  He was trying not to think about it. 

 

Realistically, he knew this wasn’t the same Kolivan that he’d faced in Akira’s reality, but that didn’t make it easier to forget having the shit beaten out of him.  He’d dreamed in the healing pod, of freezing cold containment cells and medical bands he couldn’t peel off and a hand around his throat. 

 

He’d get over it.  He just… hadn’t yet. 

 

“Well, I don’t have a better explanation,” Pidge snapped back, and that was the end of that.  

 

“If that’s it, I’m going to start dinner.  I have this idea for a curry-” Hunk pressed two fingers together and closed his eyes, looking pleased with himself.  “Lance, come with.  You’re the spice man.”

 

“Spice man!  I like it,” Lance agreed, and the two were off, Coran trailing behind them with his eyes narrowed.  All this time, and he still held resentment over the fact that they liked Hunk’s cooking better than his food goo.  Oh well. 

 

Pidge and Allura were back to discussing the security system, leaning in close to the screen and talking in quick voices, throwing ideas back and forth for what possible improvements could be made. 

 

Keith stood off to the side and wondered what to do with himself. 

 

Before this whole mess happened, he spent every free moment looking for Shiro.  But the Black Lion wasn’t responding now, and Keith wasn’t even sure if Red would respond to him after flying with Lance.  He was a little afraid to go and find out. 

 

Plus they had Akira on board now, and Keith couldn’t just leave him there.  Not with everyone acting like he didn’t exist, trying not to stare and in result not looking at him at all.  Even Kolivan and Antok were acting a little strange around him, but then again, Akira wasn’t making it easy on them. 

 

Keith couldn’t blame him.  That was his family- or, at least, kind of.  If Keith had gotten into a death match with his own parents, then stole their prisoner and launched himself out the airlock, not only running away from home but leaving the entire fucking reality- well, Keith didn’t have a family, but he imagined the guilt that would come from that.  He could imagine it must be lonely.  He couldn’t leave Akira alone with that. 

 

“Hey,” Keith said, wandering over to where Akira was leaning against the wall and nodding his head towards the door.  “Want to see the training room?”  It wasn’t as big as the one at Akira’s base had been, and Akira couldn’t do a whole lot with his hands still bound, but it was something, at least.  Training was something they both had in common, as far as Keith could tell, a way to relax.  He could extend that olive branch, or at least try. 

 

Akira offered the smallest smile and pushed off against the wall.  “Alright,” he said, so Keith turned and lead the way. 

  
  
  


…

  
  
  


Kolivan didn’t trust this boy, but then, anyone who wore the Blade of Marmora uniform without being one of their own was not to be trusted.  Had he not expressed dire concern for Keith when showing up in the Black Lion, Kolivan would not have been kind to him. 

 

It was his duty, as leader, to keep them all safe. 

 

Just as it was his own personal duty, now, to keep Keith safe. 

 

He had to admit that he’d missed the cub in his absence.  That was the main motivator, he reasoned, for following the two boys down the hall to the training deck.  He walked silently, as to not alarm them, and couldn’t help but noticing a similar behavior in this new cub.  Akira barely made a sound in his actions, very different from the almost clumsy way the paladins made their way across the universe.

 

Curious.  If this really was a situation of alternate realities, then this boy had to have been raised with Marmora.  It all seemed just too natural for him. 

 

When Kolivan came about them in the training room, he found Keith and Akira wandering around listlessly.  Keith was explaining things- the training bots, the closet, the invisible maze, and what they called the ‘death orbs’ as Akira gestured with both hands together and asked questions. 

 

Kolivan didn’t feel guilty for keeping him bound, and Akira didn’t seem terribly displaced by it.  He was handling this ‘alternate reality’ thing quite well, in Kolivan’s opinion, which just brought strength to the question of whether or not that was truly the case they found themselves in. 

 

Well developed coping mechanisms, highly functional dissociation, or an excellent lie; whichever it was, Kolivan figured they would see in time.  It did little good to worry himself with it.

 

Besides, he should be celebrating, not fretting.  Their cub was  _ back _ , home, safe, and in one piece.  He’d been worse for wear when they’d arrived, but Altean medicine was some of the best in the universe.  Besides a jagged scar wrapping around his left side, he was good as new.

 

At least, physically.  He had been acting strange since his return, distant and a little on edge.  But Kolivan would see to fixing that.  Shell shock could be shaken off with a little familiarity. 

 

“Spar a match?” he offered, stepping into the room and idling back by the door, taking note of the way Keith whirled around while Akira simply turned his head, one with quick, defensive movements, the other as relaxed as if he were napping.  

 

Akira looked down at his bound wrists, knocked the cuffs together, and gave a shrug, obviously deciding that Kolivan was not addressing him.  It was a correct decision, though Kolivan had to admit he was curious.  If this truly was a human cub raised by the Marmora of another world, his fighting style would have to be well-developed.  There were obvious physical differences between Keith and Akira that Kolivan was curious about, differences that would put Akira at an advantage. 

 

But the risk of untying him, let alone inviting him to fight, was too great.  Kolivan had no doubt he could take down the cub, but even so, arrogance gave rise to danger. 

 

Keith blinked a few times, quite slowly, before running his tongue over his upper lip and nodding.  “Sure…” he agreed, albeit reluctantly.  “Hand to hand.” 

 

Kolivan nodded, comfortable in understanding some of the human’s funny sounding codes.  “No weapons,” he agreed, then threw Keith a grin that was as close to playful as Kolivan was willing to be with anyone besides Antok.  “I will take it easy on you.” 

 

Keith chuckled, face lighting up from a challenge, and went to the center of the room.  Kolivan joined him, making sure that Akira was staying put in the corner, where he’d found himself a water pouch and a seat on the floor.  Keith squared up, stepping into a fighting stance and narrowing his eyes.  Kolivan mimicked him, took a breath, and let the cub make his first move. 

 

Kolivan wasn’t sure where he went wrong.  

 

The sparring match was going fine- better than normal, even.  Keith was quick, each move bursting out of him with a high level of energy without being reckless.  He parried Kolivan’s strikes and followed up with combinations, a punch paired with a kick paired with a well timed duck. Kolivan wasn’t exerting a lot of effort, but it wasn’t easy, either.  The paladins had been training hard and learning quickly since he and Antok had begun working with them, and Keith was obviously progressing the quickest. 

 

He spun and threw a kick, and his heel just barely grazed Kolivan’s jaw.  Excellent.  Kolivan was impressed, but he wasn’t about to let him get away with it either.  He hooked a leg behind Keith’s own and easily swept his feet out from under him, keeping an arm around him to land them both without hurting him.  His hand fell to Keith’s throat with a moderate amount of pressure- not enough to do harm, but enough to motivate him to escape.  It was a move they’d trained on specifically, seeing as Galra were known to go for the throat to find control, and Kolivan knew that all the paladins could escape any number of chokes in their sleep. 

 

That was why, when Keith failed to respond immediately, Kolivan almost thought he was being lazy.  That was, until he caught air of his scent, pouring adrenaline and terrified.  Until Keith’s eyes widened and his pupils shrunk.  Until he started to tremble. 

 

“End match,” he said, releasing him and pulling back.  “Are you alright?” 

 

He reached for him, simply aiming to take Keith’s hand and haul him back to his feet, but Keith flinched away violently.  He scrambled backwards, stumbling to his feet so clumsily that he almost fell back over, and threw both hands up in a guard when he finally got his balance. 

 

“Don’t!” he shouted.  He was sweating, pale, breathing heavily.  Kolivan frowned and took another step forward.  

 

“Keith….” 

 

“Stay away from me!” Keith yelled, voice breaking and lip trembling.  He drew in on himself at that, face flushing pink, and hesitated a moment before turning on heel and speeding away.  Out of the training room and out of sight.  Kolivan stared blankly after him, entirely at a loss. 

 

He had… never behaved like that before. 

 

He spared a glance at Akira, who was watching with wide eyes and his water pouch straw hanging out of his mouth. 

 

“Is he ill?” Akira inquired, and Kolivan sighed.  He had no idea. 

  
  
  


…

  
  
  


Keith didn’t have time to think about it; he barely had time to catch his breath.  One minute, he was pacing through the hallways trying to get his heart to stop pounding and his eyes to stop burning, the next Allura was on the intercom calling them all to the bridge, a touch of urgency in her voice. 

 

“We received communication from a nearby planet regarding the location of the Black Paladin,” she explained in the voice she used only for military meetings and rather competitive card games.  Just like that, Keith’s heart was hammering for a different reason. 

 

“They have Shiro?” Lance asked, stealing the words from him. 

 

“They might.  We’re going down to investigate, the only question is how.” 

 

“We need to be ready, in case there’s a fight,” Hunk said.  “We should take the whole team, let Coran guard the castle.” 

 

“Kolivan and Antok should come too, in case we need extra muscle,” Lance added. 

 

“This is a ground mission.  The backup would be a good idea,” Pidge agreed.  “But the Black Lion still isn’t working.  And what about….” 

 

She trailed off, casting a sideways glance to Akira, who’d come to stand next to Keith as if drawn by a magnet.  He deflated a bit at the question.  Keith hadn’t missed the excited gleam in his eye at the promise of a mission. 

 

“He stays here,” Allura said, definitive tone to her voice.  Keith automatically bristled. 

 

“If we need manpower, we should take him with.  There’s no point in leaving him here to be useless,” he snapped. 

 

Kolivan’s voice startled him from the doorway when he said, “The risk is too great.  He could turn against us.” 

 

“I would never-” Akira argued. 

 

“He could escape!” It was Lance this time, and the glare Keith shot him was murderous. 

 

The others spoke at once, voices rising in an overwhelming wave and arguing against him.  Keith felt the intensity sing across his every nerve. 

 

“Shut  _ up _ !” he snapped, loud enough to cause everyone else to drop quiet.  Allura’s eyes widened, offended, like she was going to ask who he thought he was, shouting at the princess.  Keith couldn’t see Kolivan’s face behind his already activated mask, and he wasn’t giving himself much time to look anyways, but he was willing to bet it wasn’t happy. 

 

“We’re wasting time,” Keith practically snarled, knowing his temper was getting the better of him and having no way of slowing it down.  “Shiro could be out there, and we need to get to him.  Akira is coming.  If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be here.  I trust him with my life.  Unchain him, and let’s go.” 

 

“I’m not sure this is a good idea,” Allura said, eyes narrowed and voice hard.  Keith glared right back at her. 

 

“You wanted me to be the Black Paladin.  Let me make the calls.” 

  
  


…

  
  
  


The Red Lion was not quite as large as the Black Lion, both from the outside as well as inside the cockpit.  Akira glanced around, ran his hands over the cool metal walls, and figured out his escape routes in case he came to need them.  His hands were finally unbound, and they almost felt too light without their metallic casing.  His uniform, which the man named Coran had been kind enough to run through some sort of laundry system for him, was once again properly in one piece: hood, mask, belt, and weapons.  No more half-uniform nonsense, no more bound hands, no more missing weapon. 

 

He was surprised when they gave him back his Blade, but Keith hadn’t really given anyone an option.  He’d grabbed it from its hiding place and handed it over without a word, storming off to put on his armor and not meeting eyes with anyone.  Akira hadn’t known what else to do but follow him. 

 

Now he was in the cockpit of the Red Lion as they made their way into the atmosphere of a nearby planet.  The artificial gravity and stabilizers in the lion were magnificent, and Akira felt nearly no G-force whatsoever in their descent.  He didn’t struggle to keep his footing. 

 

They were moving fast, Keith in the pilot’s seat, red armor matching everything else in their surroundings.  Lance stood behind him, dressed similarly in blue and bracing his hands on the back of the pilot’s seat.  Why he wasn’t flying the Blue Lion, Akira couldn’t be sure.  Now was not the time to ask. 

 

It was the time for other questions though.  “Is your Kolivan often tolerant of insubordination?” he asked, glancing out the window and swaying to balance as Keith swerved sharply around an acidic cloud.  He made a grunting sound instead of responding.  Lance rolled his eyes and turned to face Akira. 

 

“It’s not really insubordination if we’re not subordinates,” he stated.  “This isn’t the Garrison.” 

 

Akira didn’t know what a ‘garrison’ was.  “But he is the leader of the Blade of Marmora, is he not?” 

 

“Yeah,” Lance said.  “And we’re the paladins of Voltron.  Listen, the power structure is all kinds of wonky.  It’s best not to think about it too hard.” 

 

“You’re subordinate to the Princess Allura, though, correct?” 

 

Lance tweaked his mouth to the side and made a drawn out noise.  “Eh…. Yes.  But kind of no, now.  She’s the princess, but now she’s a paladin, so it’s not quite as strict as it used to be.” 

 

“And the Black Paladin is in charge?” Akira asked, simply wanting to understand this convoluted system they were working under.  He knew that, as an outsider and a stranger, he was at the bottom of the ladder, but who was at the top?  In the Blade of Marmora-  _ his _ Blade of Marmora- things were much simpler.  Kolivan was at the top, Antok directly under him.  Then there were the high ranking members- the veterans- and the low ranking members- those who hadn’t earned their status yet.  

 

Akira was low-ranking, though his relationships with his guardians gave him a bit more flexibility than what would normally be expected. 

 

Still, it made sense, and it was a clear hierarchy of who you were expected to answer to. 

 

This… this system in Keith’s reality… it didn’t make any sense at all. 

 

“Kind of,” Lance said again, entirely unhelpfully.  

 

“And Keith is the Black Paladin?” Akira asked.  “But so is this person we’re going to find.  Shiro?  Keith’s brother, correct?” 

 

“Brother?” Lance asked.

 

Keith made a sound akin to growling.  “Not quite.” 

 

“I have so many questions,” Lance said, voice something close to playful, but not quite.  Keith growled again.  Akira didn’t know what to make of it all. 

 

“Anyways, no.  Keith can fly the Black Lion, but he’s the Red Paladin.”

 

“And you are…?”

 

“The Blue Paladin,” Lance offered.  “But I can fly Red.  Listen, it’s all very complicated with Shiro missing, but it works.” 

 

“Won’t be for long,” Keith said, voice tense.  “We’re here.  You two done gossiping now?” 

 

Lance rolled his eyes and sealed the face mask on his helmet.  He drew his bayard and held it tightly in one hand.  “Rock n’roll, mullet.  Let’s get down there.” 

 

Akira had more questions than answers, but now was not the time.  They were about to go down to the planet, to a potential combat situation, and while Akira knew he was well trained for this, he’d never been allowed out into battle like this before.  They seemed to think he had.  Keith was looking at him like he was looking for guidance or something; he’d said he trusted Akira with his life.

 

Well… alright. 

 

Being a leader meant faking it sometimes, and while Akira wasn’t a leader here, it didn’t seem like anyone else actually was either.  Strange power dynamics, strange missions, strange expectations.  Akira could cope with this. 

 

“Rock n’roll?” he parroted Lance, words feeling foreign on his tongue.  “Ready to go.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also- unofficial playlist for this fic is comprised entirely of Disney songs right now. 
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd9R5uPjafI Strangers Like Me fits like a GLOVE   
> and I've spent the past month listening to Mother Knows Best and imagining au!Kolivan talking to Akira https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_OUjPlGgek so yeah, enjoy that mental image, because I am cracking myself UP 
> 
> can't tell you when chapter three is coming out- my time management skills are bullshit right now- but I can promise it'll be before Christmas :) hopefully even before finals week :) :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Akira nodded once, quickly. “You have my word,” he said.
> 
> “Then I am risking my trust,” Kolivan responded.'

The planet before them was a melting pot of blue and green and brown, a terran like any other, at least as well as Ulaz had taught him to recognize.  Their geography lessons had been some of Akira’s favorites.  Ever since he’d been old enough to explore the base, he’d wanted more.  There were so many planets out there, so many species and ecosystems, and Akira wanted to explore them all.  Seeing this, up close and in real life, was like a dream come true.

 

As they broke through the cloud cover and descended towards the planet’s surface, Akira suddenly found trapped in the memory of a small child pressing his hand against the glass of a simplistic space craft and watching such a planet get smaller and smaller behind him.  Going into space for the first time.

 

It made something in Akira’s chest feel fuzzy.  Beside him, Lance gasped softly, apparently caught up in similar emotions. 

 

Keith sat grim and emotionless, staring straight ahead and throwing them through the atmosphere as fast as safety would allow.

 

His voice was jarring against the hush of air whipping by outside the ship.  He snapped, “Pidge, run a life form scan on the planet,” and Akira’s stomach floated as Keith guided them into a flawless nose dive.  Lance’s fingers curled around the back of the pilot’s seat and clenched tight.  Akira simply bent his knees a bit and braced himself. 

 

“Roger,” Pidge said, and then nothing else.  There was the crackle of static, and after only ten or twenty seconds, Keith spoke again, voice impatient.

 

“Pidge?”

 

There was hesitation in the air when she answered, “...The scan is clean.” 

 

“Clean?” Lance asked. 

 

“It’s not finding anything. I mean, besides ourselves.  Five humans, one altean, two galra- did you know yours and Akira’s levels match perfectly?” 

 

“There should be six humans,” Keith replied without answering her.  “Where is Shiro?”

 

“We’ll take a closer look,” Kolivan’s voice came crackling through the comms, sending a shiver down Akira’s spine.  Keith’s shoulders drew up tight, and Akira watched him clench his jaw, as if growling.  He wondered why he didn’t verbalize it. 

 

“Rendezvous on the surface,” Keith ordered, pushing them harder and pulling up at the last second, landing them a little more forcefully than necessary.  Akira braced his hand on the wall while Lance’s legs crumpled underneath him. 

 

“Smooth landing, fighter class,” he grumbled half-heartedly, and was fully ignored as Keith stepped over him and all but sprinted towards the ramp.

 

The distant noise of beeping caught Akira’s attention, and he turned his eyes to the screens on the lion’s viewfinder while offering a hand to tug Lance back to his feet.  He watched Pidge and Kolivan both frown, leaning in close to study something in their own ship.  Three things happened very quickly.  Both of their eyes widened, going from squinted to almost comical in size; the rumble of a broken atmosphere shook Akira’s ear drums and the depths of his chest; and a red hot spike of adrenaline shot through him and lit his every nerve on fire. 

 

Akira spun on the balls of his feet and darted towards the ramp, rushing to grab his reckless counterpart before he stepped blindly into certain danger.  Pidge’s voice echoed in the empty ship along with the noise of Lance stumbling around the cockpit. 

 

“We’ve got company,” she said, and Akira grabbed Keith by the back of the armor and tackled him backwards into the ship, ramp raising shut behind him.

 

“All aboard?” Lance shouted back to them, and he must have taken over in the pilot’s seat, because the next thing Akira knew, they were rocketing back into the air. 

  
  


…

  
  


Akira stood by uselessly and watched as Keith paced a hole into the soil.  “Keith, buddy, he’s not here,” Lance said.  Those words were like an igniter, causing Keith’s head to whip up and fire to flare up in his dark eyes. 

 

“We haven’t looked everywhere,” he argued.  The looks the other members of Voltron exchanged were devoid of hope.  Even Kolivan drooped a little with the devastated atmosphere, something Akira did not know his own Kolivan to do.  Never in front of Akira at least.  Never in the audience of others.

 

“We’ve searched for hours,” Allura responded, voice measured and careful.  The simmering fury Keith turned her way was entirely unjustified. 

 

“We- haven’t- looked- everywhere-” he repeated, speaking slowly and as if holding a blade between his teeth.

 

“Keith, the scans are clean,” Pidge piped up from somewhere behind Akira.  He would have turned to look at her, but he was far too invested in watching Keith’s expressions, his body language, the way he seemed to be coming apart at the seams.  Akira wasn’t used to people emoting like this; he wasn’t used to it being so obvious.  He couldn’t look away.

 

Once again, an ignitor was struck and Keith’s temper went up in flames.  Keith immediately drew in tight before exploding, taking several steps forward.  “Your scans said he was here in the first place!”   Pidge clenched her fists and stood her ground. 

 

The two gravitated close, no one in the group able to stand still except for Akira, who found it impossible not to.  The ground gripped the soles of his feet like magnets, tugging him down down  _ down _ .  There was too much gravity here.  Too much gravity everywhere.  Quietly, subconsciously, Akira longed for home. 

 

“They said he  _ could have _ been here!  They said there was a chance!” 

 

“Apparently they’re useless!  We need to find Shiro, and  _ you’re _ wasting time!” 

 

“You’re not the only one who misses Shiro!”

 

“Shiro’s my  _ family _ .  You can’t have any idea how I feel!”  He reached forward with that, shoving one hand into the middle of her chest, hard enough to make her stumble back, but not nearly enough to hurt her.  Still.  Akira saw the way her eyes narrowed, saw the tells of merciless retaliation, and considered stepping in.  But just as she was lunging forward, the others beat him to it.

 

“You asshole!” she screeched, putting up a fight as Hunk grabbed her around the middle and carried her back.  Kolivan and Allura both stepped in to linger close to Keith, cautious and ready to hold him back if necessary.  “Let me down!  I’ll kick your ass, Kogane!”

 

“That is just about enough,” Allura snapped.  Keith shrugged off the hand Kolivan placed on his shoulder and stormed off from the group.  Hunk set Pidge back on her feet, and Lance instantly wrapped an arm around her and tugged her close.  It caught Akira by surprise, the way she pressed her face into his side and squeezing her eyes closed.  He’d started to think Humans to be a species unfamiliar with physical affection.

 

Perhaps just one of them, rather than all. 

 

Keith turned and regarded the group, walked backwards and shutting himself off.  “I’m going to look for him,” he said.  “I’m not giving up on him.” 

 

“Keith, we aren’t-” Lance started to say, but Hunk put a hand on his arm and shook his head grimly.  Lance fell silent, and Keith disappeared around a nearby cliff wall. Akira looked over the group in front of him and found them regarding each other with heartbreak and discomfort.  After what felt like minutes of silence, Lance was the first to speak. 

 

“I’ll stay planetside and wait the hot head out.  We had a hard fight.  You guys should go rest.” 

 

Allura nodded and stepped up next to him.  “I will accompany you here.  The rest of you go.  We’ll regroup.” 

 

The remaining four dispersed in silence, Akira trailing after them listlessly.  It felt almost wrong going off with these people without Keith.  It felt somehow worse to follow him.  When they drew nearer to the lions, Pidge said, “I’d prefer to fly back alone, if that’s okay.” 

 

To which Hunk nodded and waved the others towards the yellow lion.  Akira hesitated before trotting after Kolivan and Antok, still uncomfortable around what were practically clones.  He preoccupied himself with mental notes as he huddled into a corner of the cockpit.  They rode back in silence, and Akira thought that they ought to have been debriefing, going over the mission and their failures, exchanging perspectives if nothing else.

 

But these people didn’t do anything the way Akira was accustomed to, and he supposed he would just have to get used to that.  He had resigned himself to being left alone for the next bit of time until Kolivan caught his attention at the door to the main hangar. 

 

“A word, if you please,” he said, and  _ stars _ , it was all so familiar it ached.  His voice, his  _ tone _ of voice, the formality of his words.  The Humans spoke strangely, mashing several words together into one and using turn of phrase that came through the translators mangled and polluted with the static of airwaves.  

 

When Kolivan spoke, no crackle followed.  He was speaking Galran.  If not for the dread filling Akira’s heart, he would have sagged with relief. 

 

He nodded once, a simple recognition, and followed Kolivan off down the hallway in the opposite direction of the medical bay.  The other’s wandered off, not sparing them a second glance.  Akira swallowed down his apprehension and assured himself that this Kolivan was not his own Kolivan; there was a chance that Akira could best him in a fight, if it came to that. 

It did not come to that.

 

Instead of physical confrontation, Akira found himself under the spotlight of Kolivan’s inquisition.  He narrowed his weathered eyes and rubbed a heavy paw over the scruff of his jaw.  

 

“Do not fall under the impression that you have earned our trust,” were the first words he spoke, and Akira found himself nodding immediately.  Of course he wouldn’t believe that.  Did Kolivan think he was a fool? 

 

“You demonstrate a level-headedness that is rarely seen across the galaxy, and you appear to have mastered a serenity that I only know to be possible through years of training.”

 

Akira raised his chin a bit, lightened by the compliment.  “I have trained since childhood,” he explained, crossing his wrists at the small of his back as he spoke.  A sign of respect, an action of formality- a creature of habit.

 

“You truly trained under the Blade of Marmora?” Kolivan asked.  At Akira’s nod, he held one hand up, a signal of good-will, and drew his Blade out of its holster.  He held it out, shaft first, to Akira and said, “If I may.” 

 

Akira drew his own and offered it in a similar fashion.  Kolivan’s Blade was heavy in his hands, heavier than his own and weighted for someone of different proportions.  He twirled his wrist and grinned, speaking before fully considering the stranger before him. 

 

“I would often play with the Leader’s Blade when I was a cub- without his knowledge, of course.  Once I dropped it and cut my leg.  I thought I was going to bleed out, and it took my dad nearly an hour to calm me.  There was not even a scar.” 

 

Kolivan raised his eyes from where he’d been closely studying the Blade.  One eyebrow perked in interest.  “Your dad?” he questioned.  Akira found his face heating.  Had he said that?  How foolish of him.  He sounded like a child.

 

“My primary care giver,” he explained, shrugging it off and turning his attention back to the Blade in his hand.  “It is the same as my Kolivan’s,” he said.  “That ought to be impossible.” 

 

“Yes…” Kolivan murmured, eyes once again trained on Akira’s Blade- on the inscription near the handle.  “Where did you get this?” 

 

Akira found himself once again squaring his shoulders.  “It belonged to my mother.” 

 

“Impossible….”

 

“You recognize it?” 

 

“It has been a century, but yes… I do….” Kolivan’s face grew weary for a moment before he held the Blade out once again.  Akira displayed the etiquette expected of him, holding Kolivan’s out as well and exchanging Blades at the same time, so neither man ever held two Blades while the other held none.  “Kudied was lost to us,” he said. 

 

It had been quite some time since Akira had heard anyone speak his mother’s name. The fact that Kolivan knew it, that he recognized the Blade, and that he hadn’t used their alone time to attempt to dispose of him was nearly enough for Akira to trust him. 

 

But not quite.  He’d been raised better than that. 

 

Even so, he’d gotten quite used to taking risks over the past two cycles.  He might as well continue.  “My mother returned to the base when I was a small child.  She said she had lost her Blade, and was thus banished, but upon her leaving she smuggled the Blade and I into the headquarters.  She stopped before anyone could stop her.  She lied and faced excommunication as a sacrifice to save me.” 

 

Emotion welled in his chest, and he used a measured breath to bundle the feelings up and release them.   _ His  _ Kolivan had sat him through many hours of meditation, and while he’d despised it as a child, he was grateful for the steadiness it earned him. 

 

Kolivan currently looked like he could benefit from some of that steadiness.  When he spoke, his voice was like gravel.  “Your mother was warrior worthy of honor,” he said.  “But I must request something of you.” 

 

Akira tilted his head a bit, welcoming the favor.

 

“You must not speak a word of her to Keith,” Kolivan said, and his voice held absolutely no room for argument, the way Akira was used to.  He wondered why, wondered what Keith knew of their mother, if anything.  He wondered if they shared the same mother after all. 

 

But there was no room for arguments, and there was no air for questions.  Akira nodded once, quickly. 

 

“You have my word,” he said. 

 

“Then I am risking my trust,” Kolivan responded.  “Report to the medical bay with the others.  Coran should take a look at the bruising you have acquired.”

 

With that, Kolivan walked purposefully off down the hallway, still in the opposite direction than the others.  Akira wasn’t sure what else to do with himself except fall back on old habits.  

 

He turned and made his way towards where he remembered the medical bay to be.  It was almost comforting to follow an order.  It was what he was used to.  He walked swiftly and silently, running a thumb over the hilt of his sheathed Blade, and used several careful breaths to wash the emotion out of his chest.

  
  


…

 

“He’s out there looking again,” Lance said, a touch of sadness in his voice as he flopped bonelessly onto the couch in the common room.  “Allura practically had to drag him back to the castle, but as soon as we got here?  He flew off again.  Antok went with him.” 

 

“Good.  They’ll probably just sit there in silence, but at least Antok will keep him from doing anything  _ stupid _ ,” Pidge bit out, still apparently bitter from their earlier exchange. 

 

“You know he didn’t mean it, Pidge,” Hunk piped up, settling onto the couch next to Lance.  “He was worked up.” 

 

“He needs to get a grip,” Pidge snapped.  “He can’t be worked up  _ all the time. _ ”

 

“Give the guy a break!  He just came out of an alternate reality, for quiznak’s sake.”  Lance’s words seemed to strike a chord with Pidge, causing her to slump onto the couch and fold in on herself. 

 

“Fine…” he surrendered.  “But he can only milk that for so long.  If he says something that stupid again, I’m going to hit him.” 

 

“That’s fair,” Lance said.  Hunk made a quiet sound, almost like a whimper. 

 

“Can’t we at least  _ try _ to be peaceful?” he asked. 

 

Akira had claimed a piece of the wall as his own, tucked in tight and observing silently.  The humans bickered quietly about the irony of being peaceful while also being soldiers, and Akira was reminded of light-hearted conversations between Blade members back home.  They often dissolved into sparring matches, during peaceful bouts of time where everyone’s hearts were light and spirits were high.  Even veteran Blades could be found tumbling around the common rooms. 

 

The humans didn’t end this dispute through grappling, however.  When Lance’s voice broke Akira out of his trance, he found the three tangled up on the couch, limbs overlapping and heads resting on stomachs.  

 

“Hey, weird Keith,” Lance called out, rather loud in the now quiet room.  “Come grab a seat.  You’re making me nervous, lurking there.” 

 

“I did not mean to lurk,” Akira apologized, crossing the short distance and sinking into a seat, keeping a respectable amount of space between himself and the humans.  He’d thought it strange, before, how unused to physical affection Keith seemed to be.  He’d even thought that it was just normal human behavior.  And while the others persisted at proving him wrong, Akira was under no misunderstandings about his place there.  He was still a stranger, an outsider.  He was there on accident, and he was not one of them.  He was grateful to join them in camaraderie at all.  He wasn’t about to make either of them uncomfortable (the humans or himself) by pressing any further. 

 

That was, until something nudged against his shoulder and caught his attention.  "Hey," Lance said.  He'd sat up and torn himself away from the other two.  He offered up a grin that Akira figured he could get used to.  It was friendly enough.  "This is a weird question, but... your hair looks pretty tangled, and I have sisters back home... I mean.  Can I lend a hand?" 

 

These humans spoke in riddles, Akira decided.  There was no way he was one of them.  He stared back blankly in lieu of answering.  Lance chuckled and tried again.

 

"Can I re-braid your hair?" he asked, and Akira found himself, once again, entirely caught off guard.  The braid was sentimental.  Thace was the only person, other than Akira himself, who ever touched it.  Akira had spent countless evenings as a cub seated in Thace's lap while the older Galra untangled and retightened his hair.

 

It felt wrong, almost, to agree, but they hadn't found time for that in the brief period he'd had at home.  It had been  _months_ , and Akira had never felt more tired and alone and yearning for comfort.

 

"Okay," he said, mouth feeling dry and too small.  Lance grinned at him again, and Akira couldn't quite figure out how to return it.

 

It was nice, though, to have someone's fingers running through his hair.  He propped his chin up on his hand and forced his eyes to remain open, getting lost in the feeling of Lance's quick working hands and the sound of conversation around him.  There was a bit of bickering between Pidge and Lance over what they were going to use as entertainment.  Whatever it was, Pidge thought it was old and outdated.

 

“That’s for  _ babies, _ ” she argued.  “That’s only on here because Matt used to babysit.”

 

“I don’t care, I want to watch it!” Lance argued back, and there were several more long minutes of fighting before Pidge gave up and turned on the program Lance wanted.

 

Exhaustion was catching up on Akira, and he allowed his eyes to go fuzzy while the program started.  He vaguely registered Lance tying his hair off and patting him on the shoulder.  He barely noticed Keith coming into the room and joining them, and the bickering that followed. 

 

_ “How can you relax when Shiro is still missing?” _

 

_ “It’s called escapism.  Shut up and try it.”  _

 

_ “Wait, is this Sesame Street?” _

 

There words were nonsensical background noise that Akira let wash over him.  He felt like he was on the verge of sleep- and it would not have been the first time Akira had fallen asleep with his eyes open- when the screen started playing a simplistic tune, and ice cold recognition washed over Akira like a tsunami. 

 

He straightened up, not noticing the way the arguing humans next to him dropped silent, and he leaned forward on his elbows, eyes fixated on the screen in front of him.  Some kind of large, yellow creature was waltzing around with a crowd of small children, walking through a city with unfamiliar architecture on a planet Akira didn’t recognize. 

 

But the creature, and the  _ song _ .  Memories Akira didn’t even know he had lit up his brain like an explosive device, and he found himself holding his breath, tune on his lips, unable to blink. 

 

“Um… weird Keith?” someone said, words barely registering through the vacuum of hyperfocus Akira found himself trapped in.  “Are you okay?” 

 

“I know this…” Akira murmured, mouth moving by its own accord.  “I have seen this before.  I  _ know _ this.” 

 

There was silence once again after that.  Silence, and the haze of exhaustion, and that impossibly familiar song.

  
  


…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was going to end on a cliff hanger, but the last scene there felt too significant to interrupt. we'll pick up just fine next chapter. 
> 
> it's come to my attention that I've turned Akira into a jedi, which I blame on far too much star wars fanfiction over the past two weeks. but come on, the last jedi was awesome, and idc what anyone says, I LIKED episodes 1-3.
> 
> anyways, if you're still around after that bitch of a break, you're amazing and I appreciate you. more to come, probably quicker than last time.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I miss them,” Akira said, and Keith sighed. “Did you miss your family when you were away?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, final chapter count is going to be six, I'm almost certain of it
> 
> Those of you hanging on with these ridiculous pauses are the bomb.com. Thank you and good night, college might actually kill me this semester, dudes.

Kolivan had dozed for a very short period of time when whispered voices woke him up.  He squinted one eye open and took in the scene before him- two identical heads of black hair taking up two pillows on Keith’s narrow bed, a larger than usual lump under the blankets, a higher level of stress in the air than there ought to have been that late at night. 

 

Antok must have fallen asleep as well, then.  That was fine.  He needed to catch up after neglecting rest the entire time that Keith was gone.

 

“ _ What are you doing here?” _ one voice whispered, and then an identical one spoke. 

 

“ _ I could not sleep.  This ship is so quiet.” _

 

“ _ So you came to  _ my _ bed?” _

 

“ _ Should I have gone to someone else?”  _

 

Silence followed, and Kolivan considered alerting them of his consciousness.  He ought to get up and do a patrol around the castle.  If these two were up, there was no doubt that someone else was as well.  Everyone had been running at full speed for so long, at this point.  He was starting to see the signs of burn out, of the young ones fraying at the edges.

 

He knew they were more than capable of taking care of themselves, but a reminder now and then could only do some good. 

 

_ “We sleep in packs, sometimes,”  _ Akira spoke, and Kolivan decided to remain ‘sleeping.’   _ “It has been so long, I cannot-” _

 

_ “Fine, _ ” Keith whispered back, reluctance in his voice.  There was a shuffling noise as someone flipped themself over.  “ _ Go to sleep.” _

 

Kolivan pondered Akira’s words.  It was true that, even in this world, Galra sometimes slept with packs of other people.  It had been the primary practice before the Empire truly came to power and militarized the entire society.  There were habits that were hard to shake for many of the Blades after spending so much of their youth with the Empire, but instinct was hard to shake as well.  

 

Sharing a bed with a partner or two was now common practice.  Antok and Kolivan shared a sleeping space religiously whenever they were on the castle, finding comfort in each other when in a strange place.  Young cubs shared a space with one or all of their caregivers, borrowing warmth and safety from them during the night.  Older children slept bundled together as well.

 

It was comfort, companionship, and security.  It was hard to sleep without it, especially for children. 

 

Kolivan found himself once again wondering about Akira’s age and place with his own Blade of Marmora, and about Keith who didn’t speak much of his childhood, but claimed to spend a good deal of it alone. 

 

“ _ I miss them,” _ Akira said, and Keith sighed.  “ _ Did you miss your family when you were away?” _

 

Kolivan was expecting the usual response, something like ‘I don’t have a family.’  What he actually said stung a little more, somehow.   _ “It was hard to.  Your version of them wasn’t the best.” _

 

“ _ You do not seem happy to be home,”  _ Akira noted.   _ “You still seem scared.” _

 

There was the sound of the mattress shifting, again.  Of someone moving farther away.  “ _ I don’t want to talk about it, _ ” Keith snapped, then said, “ _ Go to sleep _ .”

 

No more speaking followed that conversation.  Kolivan let himself rest his eyes for a short while longer, but he was feeling alright and had much to think about.  He rose from his seat, old joints cracking as he went, and looked over the cubs one more time.  They were curled up together, now, Akira’s head pillowed on Keith’s chest, Keith’s fingers clutching onto the material of Akira’s shirt.

 

It was endearing, and Kolivan wished he had a camera.  

 

He left the room silently and shut the door behind himself, deciding to check over the rest of the paladins and the princess before retiring to the security room.  Watching the cameras calmed him.

  
  


…

  
  


Ulaz was mere units from the magnificent ship before him when his scanners had gone off in sudden alarm, blaring in a way that wasn’t necessarily dire but definitely annoying. He spared a glance around to see what it was they were detecting, and that was when a small ship caught his attention quite a ways away. It was barely a speck in his visual field, but he swiped diagonally on his screen to see what the computers had to say on the matter.

 

They had two things to say, as a matter of fact. Firstly that the entire ship was tiny, smaller even than the personal cruiser Ulaz had borrowed from the Blade of Marmora and was still cruising about in. The ship was rather like an ice cube (in regards to size and nothing else, the ship Ulaz was trying to attach to would be considered a glacier. He’d seen such ice forms on a planetary mission in his youth, before joining the order. They were magnificent). As it was, the tiny ship was nearly devoid of oxygen, coated entirely in frost, and utterly useless as it free floated through open space.

 

The second thing his computer picked up was a life force.

 

It was weak, nearly nonexistent, and fading quickly. It was a blink and you miss it type of thing, and Ulaz knew that in a matter of blinks, the life force would fade away entirely.

 

A lack of proper discipline found him spitting a string of words that his den mother would have whacked him for, but disgruntled mood or not, Ulaz yanked on the controls and zipped away from the castle ship.

 

He hadn’t been there long, not long enough to be detected, he would have guessed (though there was no way for him to know the true extent of Altean technology (not when Alteans were long extinct in his timeline). He wouldn’t know that the alarms had gone off in all their glory, pulling the paladins away just as Keith was emerging from the healing pods and causing a distressing and puzzling situation for everyone).

 

Ulaz was dealing with a distressing and puzzling situation of his own. It took only a few ticks for him to reach the ice cube ship, and only a short while after that to anchor his own to it and float very carefully between the two.

 

A blow torch and his Blade (two things a proper scientist would never find himself without) were the only tools required to bust open the frozen hatch door and unearth the dying creature inside. It was rather small, protected by a long out of use model of space suit, and barely breathing. Maneuvering him into Ulaz’s ship was easy. Knowing what to do next, not so much.

 

But Ulaz was a man of medicine, burdened in the past with caring for all the sick and injured that the Blade of Marmora could provide. He went through the customary procedures, removing the space suit, checking a pulse, applying heating elements to the wrists and neck. He pressed an oxygen cup to the creatures face and laid him down properly on a bed of mismatched linens just behind his pilots seat, wedged between his case of supplies and the wall, where he hopefully would feel secure enough as to not flail around and injure himself upon his waking. He treated an already cauterized wound on the creature’s leg and covered him for modesty.

 

Though he worked quickly and efficiently, by the time he finished, his target was long gone and out of sight. The computer ticked on in a quiet beeping pattern, telling him the ship was quite a ways off and getting farther. With a dejected sigh, Ulaz sunk into his seat and set course for the ship once again, wondering about the hitchhiker he’d shanghaied and how they’d both gotten themselves stranded in their separate situations.

  
  


…

  
  
  


“Okay, what about this?” Pidge tapped a button on her laptop and spun it around, perching it on her knees and displaying it to Akira.  Lance and Hunk were huddled around them, fully invested in the game they were playing.  Keith sat a ways away, scrolling through a data pad and trying to ignore the scene next to him.  It left a bad taste in his mouth, how interested they all were in the fact that Akira remembered stuff from Earth.  How eager Akira was to talk about all of it.

 

“Um….” Akira wrinkled his nose up and regarded the image in front of him.  “Worms?” 

 

“It’s spaghetti.” 

 

“What do you do with it?” 

 

“It’s food.” 

 

Akira made a noise that was half “ugh” and half hissing as he sat back.  “It looks like  _ blood _ .”

 

“You eat  _ actual worms _ on the base,” Keith pointed out, quickly losing all of his patience.  “Alive.” 

 

Hunk turned a little bit green, but he made a quiet comment about “different cultures… different cuisines….”  Akira laughed good naturedly. 

 

“Not my favorite,” he said.  “Actually, it is my least favorite.  Who gave it to you?  Antok?  He is always playing tricks like that.” 

 

A heavy feeling settled down over the room, and Keith was very careful about keeping his eyes to himself.  They’d barely talked about what happened with the Other Blade of Marmora at all, only the necessary facts.  But there’d been no way to dress it up as something pretty, and they’d all seen him when he’d first arrived.  Keith had made it clear that he didn’t want to talk about it, because there were other important things to worry about, and he didn’t want the extra attention.  He didn’t want the pitying glances that everyone was shooting him when he made the mistake of looking up. 

 

He quickly looked away, ears burning, and Lance was quick to speak afterwards.  “Antok plays tricks?” Lance asked, throwing them back into their casual conversation.  Akira nodded, apparently oblivious.

 

“He is the funniest.  He makes Kolivan so angry, sometimes, always telling him to relax.”

 

“Why doesn’t our Antok tell jokes?” Lace looked rather perturbed by the situation, and Pidge reached over her laptop to pat his shoulder patronizingly, still scrolling through her photos with one hand.  

 

“He’s probably like Keith.  He only tells them when there’s no witnesses, so nobody will believe you that it happened.”  Hunk sent a glare Keith’s way as he spoke, and Keith feigned increased interest in his data pad.  He really ought to be focusing harder, but the life-force scans they were doing all came back silent and empty, and it gave him a headache to stare at the calmly blinking screen. 

 

“This really is amazing,” Akira gushed suddenly, running a finger against the edge of the laptop screen.  “To have all these documentations?  We only keep data and diagrams at the base.  Ulaz has trained me in constellations and topographical mapping, but we never recreate things like this.  It is like visible memories.” 

 

Lance drooped a little at that statement, and his voice was a little gentler than normal when he asked, “You don’t have any pictures?” 

 

Akira reached up and pulled his brade over his shoulder, twisting the end of it between his fingers the way that Keith had recognized as a nervous tick.  “I have one, but….”

 

“Can we see it?” Pidge asked, pushing her computer aside and leaning in.  

 

That was all it took to wear him down, so he must have not been used to keeping this a secret.  He nodded and shifted to retrieve something from a pouch in his uniform.  “I keep it on me at all times,” he explained, holding it out for them to see.  Keith glanced up, curiosity wearing on him, and at first he didn’t recognize what he was seeing. 

 

“Kolivan said my mother gave it to him.  She wanted me to remember them,” Akira said, then shook his head and chuckled bitterly.  “I remember that children’s show, but not my own parents.” 

 

“The human brain is fascinating…” Pidge said, voice coming out quiet and cautious, and as Keith looked over the picture again, his breathing hitched in his chest. 

 

“Where did you get this?” he demanded, voice loud enough to make everyone jump.  He reached for the picture.  Akira jerked it quickly out of reach.

 

“As I said, Kolivan-” 

 

“He knew her?” 

 

“They were brothers in arms.  He told me not to tell you….”

 

That last confession was all it took.  Keith leapt up from the couch and marched across the room, intending to track down Kolivan and get some answers.  “Keith, wait a second!” Lance yelled after him, but Keith couldn’t make himself slow down. 

  
  
  


…

  
  


Kolivan was speaking peacefully with Coran in the kitchen when Keith burst in, which was strange in and of itself-  Keith was known to burst out of places, storming from rooms and locking himself away; and he was known to burst into battle, throwing himself into action whether it was the wisest decision or not.  It was rare that he burst into rooms like this though, as he was better known for tiptoeing around and moving about more quietly than the other humans (except for maybe Shiro, but that was understandable).

 

No, Keith burst into the room with stomping feet and a fiery expression, and his voice was loud as he demanded, “We need to talk.”  Both men turned towards him with raised eyebrows, and Coran was opening his mouth to answer him when the alarms went off and they all froze. 

 

“Again!?” Coran asked.  “If it’s another false alarm, I’m rewriting the entire system.” 

 

_ “--Intruder on level five--”  _ Antok’s voice announced over the loudspeaker.  Keith spun on heel and sprinted back out of the room.  Kolivan followed after him. 

 

“Go, run!” Coran said.  “I’ll go around the back!” 

 

There was always a touch of confusion in these scenarios as to how they were to prepare.  For missions in their lions, putting on armor was part of the routine, as well as absolutely necessary.  In the past when there had been action in the castle, they’d all followed Shiro’s lead to gauge how ready they needed to be.  

 

Now, though, Shiro wasn’t there, which was why all of them showed up to the party in absolute disarray. 

 

Hunk was wearing his armor, but missing his helmet.  Pidge, likewise, was wearing her helmet and nothing else.  Lance hadn’t bothered with armor at all, but he did have both his own bayard and Keith’s, which he threw to him as Keith and Kolivan rounded the corner into the hallway.  Keith activated it and swung it up into position, his other Blade sheathed at his side.  Kolivan would have wondered why he was more comfortable with his paladin blade than his Marmora Blade if he’d had the time.  As it was, there wasn’t much time for anything, but the situation was not as dire as it could have been. 

 

Allura, a force to be reckoned with in a nightgown, yielding a candle stand as a bo staff, had the intruder forced back with her makeshift weapon shoved against his throat.  “Show yourself!” she demanded, voice balanced very carefully on the edge of threatening, but not quite threatening enough to be offensive.  At least, that would have been the case, if she didn’t have him pressed against a wall.  Ah, the frivolousness of youth.

 

The stranger did not respond, nor did he expose his hands where they were hidden in his cloak.  He was tense and defensive, as if figuring out whether to attack or run.  Coran and Antok flanked opposite sides of him, cutting off all escape routes.

 

Moments dragged on heavily, and eventually the stranger was worn down.  He did not raise his gaze, keeping his head ducked and concealed under the cloak he was wearing, but he did speak.  “I am looking for someone,” he explained, as footsteps could be heard down the hall behind them. Kolivan recognized them as Akira, who must have gotten spun around and left behind in all of the action.  The footsteps were Akira’s, as was the quiet gasp that followed. 

 

The stranger’s head snapped up at that, and Kolivan’s breath caught at the site of a familiar mask.  There was a ruckus as Akira shoved through the wall of paladins to get closer, and as soon as he’d slipped past Hunk, the stranger moved into action.   He disarmed Allura with an almost effortless movement, which Kolivan was more than ready to apprehend before he removed his mask. 

 

“Akira!” Ulaz shouted, and Kolivan almost couldn’t believe what he was seeing.  Akira ran the short distance and leapt onto him in what Kolivan initially thought was an attack.  It turned out to be a hug.  Akira and the stranger clung to each other like their lives depended on it, Akira’s arms locked around Ulaz’s neck and feet dangling a few inches above the floor, not a care in the world.  Ulaz held onto him just as tight, nuzzling against his hair affectionately, and the two voices bounced off the walls as they caught up. 

 

“-are you doing here?”

 

“-through a portal of light-”

 

“-where we are?”

 

“-went off to find you!”

 

“I am so glad to see you!”

 

“I am glad you are safe.” 

 

Everyone else stood and watched in stunned silence, a mystery heavy in the air.  The paladins looked puzzled.  Allura looked like she’d seen a ghost.  Kolivan felt sick to his stomach.  Entire minutes passed before Lance, as was his custom, was the first to break the silence. 

“I don’t mean to be rude,” he said, speaking mostly to the Voltron team and not the family reunion in front of them.  “But I thought Ulaz was dead.” 

 

Before anyone could comment on the fact that Lance wasn’t imagining things, footsteps could be heard coming down the hall for a second time.  Kolivan did a quick, mental headcount, and immediately whipped around to face the newcomer.  Everyone was accounted for (and then some) and they seemed to realize that as they all spun around, weapons at the ready. 

 

But for the second time that night, there was no fight to be had.  A too-small-to-be-Galra body sagged against the wall and a painfully familiar voice mumbled, “What’s going on….?” with pain on his lips. 

 

Metal hit metal as Keith dropped his Blades, but Pidge beat him there, going to Shiro’s side and staggering under the weight she tried to support.  Keith was there in an instant to pick up the slack, and Hunk- always cautionary- scooped both of Keith’s weapons up off the floor and juggled them carefully. 

 

Lance and Allura were quick to join them, keeping as appropriate a distance as they could stand to.  The room was a mess of voices, everyone demanding whether or not Shiro was okay, and where he’d gone, and how he’d gotten there.  Shiro didn’t seem to have the energy to answer them, and he let his head lull against Keith’s while barely managing to keep his eyes open. 

 

Kolivan saw him fading before it happened, but so did Antok.  He was there the moment Shiro dropped into unconsciousness, catching the weight as Keith buckled and scooping him into his arms. “Let’s get him into a healing pod,” Coran said, hurrying off down the hallway, Antok in tow. 

 

Kolivan stepped forward and caught Keith’s arm before he could run along after them.  

 

“What-” Keith protested as he was caught.  “No, let me go.  I have to….” 

 

“You will do no good getting under foot in the medical bay,” Kolivan said gently, turning his eyes away from his cub and towards the intruder and his own.  “There are questions I feel we will need your help answering.”

  
  
  



	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "When Akira had arrived, they’d been panicked from the moment they saw the ship to the moment they had Keith bleeding out on their floor. When Ulaz had shown up they’d been an absolute disaster, and when Shiro had shown up they hadn’t even noticed. At least now, when an unmarked ship parked itself calmly in the hangar like it belonged there, they were ready to greet whoever was arriving."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello again!
> 
> reminder that this fic takes place in the distant past, circa season three or something. i haven't watched season seven yet, so don't spoil anything for me. but i'll probably write some DoM oneshots once I get my ass in gear again
> 
> thanks for your patience

Akira was a child, Kolivan decided as he watched the cub engage in play with the paladins.  Asking questions and getting answers hadn’t taken very long at all, even with Keith’s reluctance.  It seemed that, as far as the Blade of Marmora was concerned at least, everyone who existed in the current reality existed in the alternative. 

 

This Ulaz was a doctor and a scientist, much like their own Ulaz had been.  He had a bond with Thace, perhaps even closer than the one Kolivan had known.  The two had adopted Akira as their own, raised him from infancy. They had to be raising him by Galran customs, and if that were the case, well then Akira was not nearly an adult.

 

Allura was still hesitant around the boy, and Kolivan could understand that.  But Ulaz had subjected himself easily enough to her security measures, acquiescing just as easily as their own would have to the tracking monitor, the removal of his weapons, and being kept within Allura and Antok’s sight. 

 

Kolivan had taken up security duties of his own as Akira, apparently pleased to see his caretaker again but not needing to cling excessively, had quickly jumped on the opportunity to tumble around the mat with the humans who intrigued him so greatly. 

 

At one point the cacophony of screeching and yelling and playfully banter would have driven him up a wall, but it was almost comforting at this point to watch Lance and Akira go at it.  Hunk was sitting out, sucking on a water pouch and claiming he’d like to quit before he died. Pidge, on the other hand, as perched in the corner and plotting her attack, waiting to leap into the tussle and save her teammate from their new plaything. 

 

It wasn’t surprising that Lance didn’t stand a chance.  Even Keith got himself dragged all over the mat in training, and he was superior to his teammates in most combat activities.  He moved with the ease of someone who was used to fighting, who’d learned from a very young age. 

 

Kolivan had questions about that. 

 

It wasn’t surprising to see Lance getting taken down a peg, but Kolivan was surprised when he heard a startled shriek that he didn’t quite recognize.  He glanced up from where he’d let his eyes wander down the hallway, found Lance pinning Akira, wrapped around him like a sea monster. Pidge pinned the both of them from atop and dug her fingers quite brutally into Akira’s sides. 

 

‘Tickling,’ or so Kolivan had been told.

 

Akira giggled uncontrollably, thrashing about like a beached fish, eyes shut tight and face red.  “Stop!” he shrieked between wild bellows of laughter and gasps of breath. “Stop! Unhand me- I can’t- you-  _ Please _ !” 

 

Yes, most definitely a child.  Figuring Lance and Pidge could very much handle themselves (that is, until Akira got free and reigned hell upon them in revenge), Kolivan grinned to himself and ambled out of the training deck, down the hallway towards the Paladin’s rooms. 

 

The mood in the rest of the castle, compared to the training deck, was pure ice.  Kolivan tread lightly, deliberately as much as naturally, for down the hallway and around the corner he knew he’d find Keith stationed outside Shiro’s door.

 

The cub hadn’t moved since first sitting down, and it had been nearly a full day cycle since Shiro had been released from medical care and laid to rest in his own room.  He hadn’t woken yet, properly exhausted from the state they had found him in and the healing they had forced his body through. 

 

Keith, similarly, looked close to death.  The other night’s sleep with Akira had been an anomaly.  Kolivan had been paying attention, and from what he’d observed Keith was only resting a few hours every cycle, and he was sleeping even less than that.  Kolivan wanted to help, wanted to let instinct take over and  _ take care of him _ , but he was a smart man.  He was observant. There was no forgetting the panicked look in Keith’s eyes, the noxious spike of adrenaline, whenever Kolivan stepped too close. 

 

These things took time, and Kolivan had patience. 

 

Keith, in the state he was in now, was really pushing it. 

 

He’d been sitting outside Shiro’s door and worrying himself sick.  There were dark shadows under his eyes and a tremor in his hands. His face was gaunt, and his odor left much to be desired.  But offering food was a moot effort, and getting him to move was an impossible feat. Short of picking him up and carrying him away kicking and screaming, there was little to be done. 

 

But as the doboshes passed, Kolivan was slowly considering that an option. He’d dump him in the shower first, before anything else, and then get some food into him.  Swaddle him like a small child, and force him to bed for at least half of a cycle. 

 

And with that, Kolivan was officially losing his mind and turning into a nanny.  He needed to clear his mind. 

 

Unfortunately, just as he had made up his mind and was turning to go, a trio of noisy youngsters made their way down the hall in his direction.  Going towards them and cutting them off would tell Keith that he’d been spying, but going towards Keith would disrupt the cub’s brooding. Seeing little option, Kolivan rejected his fate and slipped soundlessly into the nearest unlocked door.

 

He listened carefully as the paladins passed, chattering happily to themselves.  He could hear the moment they happened upon Keith, as their conversation fell silent and their footsteps became still.  

 

“Oh….” Pidge said.  “Hey.” 

 

“Have you been here all day?” Hunk asked.  “You don’t look so good, dude.” 

 

He could practically hear the venom dripping from Keith’s words as he spat them.  “Where have  _ you _ been?” he snapped. “We finally get Shiro back and you decide to just move on?”

 

“As if you’re doing any good lurking in the hallway,” Lance spat back.  Kolivan felt a familiar headache forming between his eyes.

 

“We asked you if you wanted to come train with us….” Hunk offered, voice a lot gentler. 

 

“As if you care.  You’re having plenty of fun without me.  I’m glad you’re able to  _ relax _ when Shiro could be  _ dying _ .”

 

“He’s  _ fine _ !  Coran released him from the med bay, didn’t he!?” Lance’s voice was quickly reaching octaves not audible to the human ear, while Keith’s was turning into a growl.

 

“He was  _ lost in space _ !”

 

“But we  _ found him _ !” 

 

“No thanks to you!”

 

“What the quiznack is that supposed to mean!?” 

 

A deep silence filled the hallway, and Kolivan considered stepping out and putting an end to the argument, ushering the others away and giving Keith the space he’d been demanding since his return.  But then Keith spoke, voice quiet and furious. “You know what? Forget it.” 

 

“Fine,” Lance bit out.  

 

“You’ve got a good replacement for me anyways.” 

 

“Whoa, Keith-”

 

“He is a good replacement!” Lance plowed over Pidge. “At least he’s  _ friendly _ .  Better friend, better teammate-” 

 

“Fuck you!”   
  


“Maybe we should see if Ulaz will take  _ you _ back with him!” 

 

For the first time ever, Kolivan was grateful for the way Keith screamed when issuing an attack.  It gave him the split second he needed to flee his hiding place and get between the two squabbling cubs before they could do any damage to each other.

 

Pidge, brave little warrior that she was, stood between the two while Hunk and Akira both held Lance back.  Kolivan swooped in and yanked Keith back by the neck as he dove in swinging. 

 

“Desist at once,” he growled, dragging Keith down the hallway after him as he marched away from the scene.  They were doing little good for Shiro, making a ruckus outside of his door when the boy needed rest. 

 

He listened to the sound of Hunk’s voice fading behind him.  “I know you’re freaking out about Shiro, but that was over the line, man….”

 

Keith was silent next to him, but Kolivan could feel him stewing.  Satisfied at the distance, he kicked open an unfamiliar door and all but tossed Keith into the empty room.  Keith caught himself easily and whirled on Kolivan in a storm of crackling energy. Fists balled at his sides.  Eyes glowing with fury. 

 

Ah, to be young. 

 

“Fighting with your teammates is unacceptable.” 

 

Keith’s reaction was immediate and explosive, “But they-” 

 

“Creating rifts will do nothing to make you feel better.  You need their support now more than ever.” 

 

Keith scoffed, body language that of a rebellious youngster as he crossed his arms and glared.  “What do you know about what I need?” he growled. 

 

Kolivan raised a singular eyebrow. “I know that you need to take better care of yourself.” 

 

“I-”

 

“I know that you need Shiro to wake, so that you can reconcile.” 

 

“Shiro’s-”

 

“And I thought that you needed space, but it turns out I do not know everything.” 

 

The next words out of Keith’s mouth drove a knife into Kolivan’s chest.  “You knew my mother,” he said. Kolivan had not anticipated this conversation. 

 

There were a million things he could say in reply, but Keith was too bright for half of them.  Instead, Kolivan bit the bullet. “I did not know who were right away.” 

 

“After I activated my Blade?” Keith challenged.  Kolivan shook his head. 

 

“Even longer after that.  Many Blades have perished through the years, there Blades abandoned.  We were wary of you, even after your awakening, because others have tried to deceive us with those tactics.  We had already gotten to know you quite well before making the discovery.” 

 

Keith scoffed again, stepped back and put space between them.  “You don’t know anything about me,” he muttered, then leveled Kolivan with a glare.  “Why didn’t you tell me?” 

 

“Your mother is-” 

 

“ _ Is? _ ”

 

“Your mother is in a parlous situation.  There is no communication. There is no way to even know where she is.” 

 

“My mother is  _ alive? _ ” 

 

“To the best of our knowledge.”

 

“And you  _ didn’t tell me!?” _

 

“There is nothing to be done!  It has been deca-phoebs since we have heard anything-” 

 

“I thought she was  _ dead _ !” Keith shouted, and Kolivan felt his patience snap. 

 

“She just might be!” he shouted back and watched all the blood drain from Keith’s face.  “There is no way of knowing. No way to contact her. No- where do you think you are going?” 

 

Keith stormed out of the room without answering, stomping loudly down the hallway as he went.  Kolivan followed him out the door. “We are not done with this conversation!” he shouted. “Keith! Do not disobey me, cub!” 

 

“They are a handful at this age,” a voice spoke directly into Kolivan’s ear, startling him and sending a bolt of lightning through him.  He hadn’t been snuck up on since his days as a cadet. He spun, palm finding his intruder’s throat and taken them both to the ground in a well-practiced move.

 

Ulaz stared up at him from the floor, eyes amused.  Kolivan studied his face for a moment before sighing and releasing him.  He rose to his feet, and Ulaz-  _ other _ Ulaz- did the same. 

 

“You know better than to sneak up on me,” Kolivan said, feeling something sick and hollow in his chest. 

 

“The Kolivan I know is not so easy to sneak up on,” he said, and Kolivan considered being insulted until Ulaz added, “He is also not nearly so kind.” 

 

“I do not feel kind.” 

 

“My Leader does not even consider his own feelings.” 

 

Kolivan hummed noncommittally.  “Introspection is an important ingredient in leadership.”

 

Ulaz nodded.  It haunted Kolivan to his bones, the way their mannerisms were the same.  “It also comes from experiences, and yours are quite different, I assure you.” 

 

“Bred from war, all the same.”

 

“Or so you would think.” 

 

Kolivan didn’t want to look too closely into what Ulaz was telling him.  He’d leave the wondering for later. For now, he had other troubles at the forefront.  “He’s slipping away from me,” he confided, shaking his head sadly. “I thought we were breaking through to him, but then he disappeared.  Your people took him for a week, and now he will not look in my direction.” 

 

“He is new to you?” 

 

Kolivan nodded.  “We did not raise him.  And now he thinks I am standing in the way between him and his mother.” 

 

Ulaz hummed, shrugged, starting to wander off down the hallway.  Kolivan followed him. “He will come back. Young people have big feelings.  Mine was missing for nearly a deca-phoeb, but I still got him back.” 

 

“I fear this is a different kind of distance.” 

 

“‘All the same in space-time.’  That’s a phrase I heard from the little one.  ‘Space-time.’ What does that even mean?” Ulaz pondered. 

 

Kolivan sighed and rubbed at his eyes.  “Pidge likes to speak in riddles. Finds it amusing.” 

 

“This is a most interesting species.  Maybe I can learn more about Akira, being here.” 

 

“I wish you luck in learning anything.” 

 

“And I appreciate that.” 

 

They parted at a fork in the road, Ulaz meandering off in the direction of conversation coming from the common room, Kolivan heading towards Antok, hoping to talk to someone who would understand him.  He took tabs on everyone as he made his way. Paladins- with Ulaz in the common room. Allura- on the bridge. Coran- communicating from the engine room. Keith- stationed outside of Shiro’s door again, and Shiro- just as much absent as he had been when he was missing. 

 

Kolivan made his way and tired to settle the storm brewing in his head.

  
  


\----------

  
  


The fourth time someone invaded the castle, they were very much prepared for it.  The ship announced itself from a ways away, and by the time it boarded they were all in full armor.  Even Shiro, who had emerged from his room and was trying his damndest to act like nothing was wrong and there was nothing to talk about.  

 

Maybe he’d talked to Keith, but Hunk wasn’t sure.  From the way Keith was sulking, he’d have to guess that Shiro was being this distant with everyone.  It set them all on edge, and that was setting Hunk even worse on edge. It was bad enough that they were in a space war, and that alternate realities existed, and that people could apparently get  _ lost in them _ .  It was enough to have all that, but no. They had to add  _ drama _ .

 

Hunk was exhausted. 

 

When Akira had arrived, they’d been panicked from the moment they saw the ship to the moment they had Keith bleeding out on their floor.  When Ulaz had shown up they’d been an absolute disaster, and when Shiro had shown up they hadn’t even noticed. At least now, when an unmarked ship parked itself calmly in the hangar like it belonged there, they were ready to greet whoever was arriving. 

 

Ulaz and Akira stood among them, off to the side flaking the left.  Coran stood off to the right. Kolivan and Antok brought up the rear.

 

Or, at least Hunk thought so.  But then the ship opened, and someone definitely Galra sized stepped out.  They deactivated their mask, stepped fully into the room, and…

 

And well, there was Kolivan.

 

He looked different.  Younger, almost, and just  _ off _ .  Hunk was never going to get used to this alternate reality thing.  Neither was anyone else, apparently, because it took Allura a long second before she stepped forward and announced, “I am Princess Allura of Planet Altea.  Introduce yourself.” 

 

This new, weird Kolivan scanned the room slowly with his eyes.  If he was surprised to see a new version of himself (which, Hunk checked, the original Kolivan still stood at the back of the room), or anyone else for that matter, he didn’t let it show.  He settled his eyes on Allura and spoke evenly. The voice was the same. 

 

“I am the leader of the Blade of Marmora, and I believe you have something of mine.” 

 

From the stories Keith and Shiro had told, the original Kolivan had been incredibly reluctant to disclose any part of his identity.  And here the new Kolivan was, standing before them and announcing the name of his secret organization. Weird. 

 

Weird Kolivan’s eyes shifted across the room and settled to the left, on Akira and Ulaz.  “Leader,” a voice from over there called, catching Hunk’s attention. Akira sounded so much like Keith it was spooky.  And Kolivan sounded so much like other Kolivan. Strange how alternate realities didn’t change vocal chords. Even Sven had the same voice with the accent (and where he’d gotten a Swedish accent in space, Hunk didn’t want to know).

 

Weird Kolivan gave a single nod, and Hunk watched with intense curiosity as Akira crossed the room mechanically, coming to a halt mere feet away from their intruder.  The two stared at each other evenly, and Hunk felt the tension swelling enough to strangle them. 

 

“Leader, I can explain-”

 

And then just like that, it snapped.  Weird Kolivan’s hand cracked against Akira’s face hard enough to knock him sideways.  He stumbled, tripping over himself, but took it silently. Hunk saw Lance flinch next to him, felt himself step forward before faltering.  Akira rose to his feet and straightened up, face expressionless. He stood at attention once again in front of the man who’d struck him. 

 

Weird Kolivan’s hand was still raised, and Hunk was quite worried he was going to hit him again.  But then, in a flash, their Kolivan was crossing the room and stepping between the two. Akira stepped back when Real Kolivan placed his arm in front of him, creating a physical barrier.  Hunk breathed a sigh of relief. 

 

“I do not know how you run things where you are from,” Real Kolivan spoke, voice like thunder.  “But here we find no honor in hurting those smaller than us.” 

 

Hunk knew that was a blatant lie from sparring sessions alone, not even considering the Trials Keith had told them so little about.  They’d all seen the bruises he tried to cover, had peeked at the scar on his shoulder in the shower room. But maybe training didn’t count.  Hunk wasn’t quite sure where the lines were, but he at least knew that Real Kolivan didn’t walk around wailing on people. 

 

“Who are you to tell me how to handle my business?” Weird Kolivan snarled. 

 

Real Kolivan responded, voice calm and steady.  “Take your qualms out on me in combat, and perhaps I will tell you.” 

 

“Knowledge or death,” Weird Kolivan acknowledged, and Real Kolivan turned, leading the way from the hangar to the training room.  Hunk exchanged a few glances with the others behind their backs. They followed the Kolivan’s, and Hunk dropped back to walk with Akira, who was idling behind the others and holding his cheek.  It was very quickly turning purple. 

 

Hunk winced.  “Let’s get you some ice,” he offered, throwing an arm around Akira’s shoulders and pulling him along gently.  

 

“We should go watch,” Akira said, malleable under Hunk’s arm and letting him guide him without protest.  Hunk shrugged. 

 

“I’d rather not, to be honest,” he said.  “And I think with everyone else, they’ll be able to break it up if it gets too ugly.”

 

Akira didn’t reply, but he listened when Hunk told him to sit up on the counter.  He let him take a look at his face, poke along his jaw and look for fractures. His cheek was swelling, and his eye was starting to turn black the way that sensitive tissue tended to, but it didn’t look like any real damage had been done.  It looked like it hurt like a bitch. 

 

“That was pretty brutal…” Hunk cautioned, testing the waters as he pressed a cold compress to the wounded flesh.  Akira hissed, then steadied himself and hummed quietly, not agreeing or disagreeing. 

 

“I have done a great deal lately to make him angry,” he replied.  His passive acceptance made Hunk want to go punch that asshole square in the teeth, even if it got him murdered for his efforts. 

 

“Doesn’t mean he gets to hit you,” Hunk grumbled, and Akira chuckled darkly, dropping the ice pack.  Hunk repositioned it and narrowed his eyes. “What?”

 

“We live in a war, and you are worried about such minor violence?” Akira asked, voice humorless.  “I have been trained to endure battle, to dress my own wounds. I was lost from my base for phoebs, suffered illness and famine, and you are worried that I got hit?” 

 

Sometimes Hunk really hated being in space. “Your family is supposed to take care of you,” he tried to explain.  “They’re what gets you through the bad stuff, not adds onto it.” 

 

“Your concern is sweet,” Akira said, grinning patronizingly and patting Hunk on the shoulder as he hopped off the counter.  “But I do not need it. Let’s go watch the fight.” 

 

And just like that, Akira was gone and Hunk was left alone in the kitchen.  Most of the time he was able to shake the homesickness that used to sit heavy in his gut and burn behind his eyes.  He’d adapted, gotten used to it, grown tougher skin. But in that moment he found himself aching for family. Familiarity.  His  _ parents _ . 

 

His space family was shaken, and his earth family was terribly far away.  He didn’t know whether to worry about Akira or not, didn’t know what to do about the laundry list of problems that were plaguing the castle at that moment, and didn’t know how to handle the laundry list of realities Akira had brought to light.  The ones Hunk worked so hard not to ruminate on. 

 

Had be not been so buried in his head, he might have noticed Keith sneaking into the kitchen.  Might have seen the way he froze, and then crept silently to avoid Hunk turning and seeing him.  Might have noticed he grabbed far too many portions of goo to account for a single meal before darting out the door. 

 

It wasn’t Hunk’s fault that Keith disappeared into space.  Nobody else noticed either, too absorbed in the action on the training deck, watching as Kolivan won the fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Keith........ which Kolivan won the fight? YOU decide!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "He’d been abducted, sucked into a strange place full of nightmares and memories he didn’t know he had and feelings he didn’t want to deal with.   
>  And now those monsters were in his house."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya'll have no idea how happy I am that you all stuck around. The best readers ever award goes to you!

Keith realizes his mistake about an hour into his journey, which is to say- an hour too late. He drifted out through the depths of space, not an obstacle in sight, no real risk of being detected, and just sighed. 

 

He knew this was a mistake.  He knew he should have stayed behind.  He couldn’t help but think back to oh so many months ago- hell, was it years at this point?  Time didn’t make sense anymore, not when their life was a blur of training and missions and reality jumps and a constant rush of strangling adrenaline.  Not when he’d spent the past few centuries staring numbly at monitors, praying for any sort of clue or reprieve or hope, and feeling the ticks fall away like sand through an hourglass.  Every. 

 

Last. 

 

One.

 

And then he’d been abducted, sucked into a strange place full of nightmares and memories he didn’t know he had and feelings he didn’t want to deal with. 

 

And now those monsters were in his house. 

 

Castle ship. 

 

Whatever.

 

Anyways.  Focus. Keith needed to stay on focus.  And it seemed that all he could focus on was his own hypocrisy.  It hadn’t been terribly long ago that he was getting in Pidge’s face, yelling about sticking with the team and their duty to the universe instead of running off after her family.  Looking for someone she wasn’t even sure was alive. 

 

What had Keith been doing for the last few months?

 

And now here he was, floating aimlessly through the depths of space looking for someone he’d never met, someone who Kolivan wasn’t even sure was alive.  

 

But she was, wasn’t she?  Keith could feel it in his gut, something tethering him to his past- to this mission- to the idea that he might finally know where he’d come from and what it meant. 

 

His father had been vague at best when Keith was little.  He was a kind man, a good father, but he took things seriously.  Whenever Keith asked about his mom, his dad would get a far away look in his eyes and insist, with much strain in his voice, that she was a hero who did everything to save him.  That he only had to look to the stars to see her. 

 

All this time he’d thought that meant she was dead.  Maybe she was. God only knows, Keith had seen a million stars and none of them were telling him anything. 

 

He needed to breathe.  He could feel something panicked and scared clawing at his throat and shooting like fire through his fingertips.  He closed his eyes, tightened his hands on the ship’s controls, and tried to get a hold of himself. 

 

He’d made his bed, and he had to sleep in it.  Maybe he should feel worse about technically being a deserter, but it wasn’t like he’d get court martialed for it.  They’d understand, right? 

 

They didn’t need him anyways.  They’d made that abundantly clear.  Kolivan didn’t trust him as far as he could throw him; he’d proven that time and again with the way he was always within earshot, always hovering too close, watching him sleep, treading on eggshells.  Keith didn’t need a babysitter. He wasn’t going to go awol on them. 

 

Or, maybe he was…. If his current actions were anything to play off of….

 

But Keith just hadn’t been able to take it anymore, okay?  Between Kolivan all but smothering him without actually  _ talking to him _ , and that damned superiority complex, and the fact that he’d kept his mother a secret!  And the way Keith couldn’t get himself to look him in the eyes, too ashamed of everything that had happened in the other reality, as if Kolivan could look through the other him’s eyes and see every mistake, and failure, and  _ tear _ . 

 

It had been a long, long time since Keith had felt this empty and hopeless.  He’d learned quickly after his father’s death that desponcy only earned you pity, and pity only lasted so long.  Being vulnerable only made people get sick of taking care of you. 

 

So you cope, you turn your sadness to anger, and you take care of yourself.  Don’t rely on anyone and you won’t be disappointed. Don’t give them the benefit of hope, and  _ they _ won’t be disappointed. 

 

That’s where Keith had gone wrong, he supposed.  He’d opened himself up, let himself fantasize the idea of having a family, tricked the others into thinking that maybe- if only for a second- he was worth it.  And then he’d let them down. And they’d let him down. And here he was, alone again. 

 

Keith blinked back tears and let go of the controls.  It’s not like there was anything to steer around. Maybe it would be worth it to crash headfirst into something anyways.  He’d tried, he’d tried so damn hard to keep it together and do what Shiro wanted and for what? For Shiro to come back and brush him aside, as if  _ nothing _ had happened, as if Keith were  _ wrong _ for being worried sick.

 

“Maybe you should step back,” Shiro had said when they’d talked, “You look exhausted.  You don’t need to wear yourself thin like this.” 

 

As if they had any God damn choice in the middle of the war.  But straight from the horse’s mouth, Keith wasn’t fit for leadership.  Shiro had wanted him to be, and he’d let him down. 

 

Keith had promised in that same conversation to keep saving Shiro, as many times as it took, and now he was running away.  Just another lie. 

 

He wondered briefly what would have happened if he’d had Akira’s life.  If his mom had taken him with instead of abandoning him. If he would have grown up smarter, stronger, more skilled, less reclusive.  More confident. 

 

Or if his dad had stuck around.  Been less of a hero. Or if Keith had been enough to convince him not to risk it.  Would he have turned out more like Akira then, with one parent instead of none? Smarter.  Stronger. Better?

 

Okay, that was enough of that.  Keith needed a plan. He needed to think.  

 

His goal out here was to find his mom.  The atmosphere on the castle had been suffocating.  Shiro’s rejection, the other’s treatment, Akira’s presence, and the talk with Kolivan had all pushed him over the edge, but the other Kolivan showing up?  Keith couldn’t handle that. He  _ refused _ to handle that. 

 

Not when he was so obviously… himself, and the others would start asking questions again.  They’d find out that Keith really was weak, wasn’t leadership material, couldn’t hold himself together. 

 

Hell, they probably already knew that.  After all, he’d run away. 

 

Coward. 

 

If he wanted to redeem himself, he needed a reason for his actions.  He needed something more concrete than ‘I’m going to find my mom,’ which sounded childish at best.  He didn’t know where she was, not a damned clue, so that was probably the place to start. He could go to Earth, dig up any hints his dad might have had.  Anything he hadn’t pieced together yet from the few belongings he’d managed to hold onto. 

 

But no, that would take too long, and he had no idea where Earth was to begin with.  

 

Then again, maybe that wasn’t his only option.  If Kolivan had known his mother, others must have too.  After setting up this alliance and growing it as strong as they had, they’d installed a tracker to the headquarters in their navigation systems.  

 

Keith had his navigator, he had his Blade, and he didn’t have any other options. 

 

It would have to work. 

 

Worst come to worst, they’d turn him in and Keith would end up back on the castle.  But being betrayed was better than crawling back with his tail between his legs a mere few hours after leaving.  Best case scenario, he’d find another hint to his mom, and he’d finally have a course of action. 

 

It felt like he’d been stumbling blind for far too long now. 

 

With one last deep, settling breath, Keith made up his mind.  He set his navigation system and plotted a course, gripped the controls tightly in his hands, and took off into the night. 

  
  
  


\-------

  
  
  


“How are they not tired?” Pidge asked, slumping forward against the windows on the observation deck and sagging with quickly developing exhaustion.  Lance, whose family had apparently spent countless Saturday nights crowded around the TV cheering on Julian Marquez and Yoel Romero, shushed her loudly and pressed closer to the glass. 

 

“This is the greatest day of my life,” he gushed, as Kolivan threw Kolivan to the ground with bone crushing power.  Kolivan wasn’t phased though, he simply grabbed Kolivan on the way down, wrapping his legs around the other’s waist and flipping him into the mat.  On and on they went like this. Weapons draw but seldomly used for slashing, more for deliberate blunt strikes, holds, evasive maneuvers. 

 

They moved like they were born for this.  If they hadn’t been going at it for well over an hour, Pidge would be fascinated. 

 

“Are they evenly matched even with alternative backgrounds?” Coran wondered aloud.  Antok flicked his tail and shrugged one shoulder, apparently untroubled by the whole situation.  Ulaz, on the other hand, was a little more on edge.

 

“Hard to say who has what similarities and differences exist,” he said.  “Even the slightest changes between realities can produce phenomenal effects.”

 

“The butterfly effect,” Pidge agreed.  Ulaz made a noise of either disagreement or misunderstanding, not pulling his attention away from the fight.  Pidge decided to let it go. 

 

She also decided to go see what Hunk was doing, since he’d never shown up to the fight in the first place, even after Akira had come storming in.  With the scowl and the set jaw and the tense set of his shoulders, he’d been indistinguishable from Keith from the corner of her eye. Taller, broader, a slight bit more purple- the fundamentals were there, and Pidge had to wonder about Coran’s musing. 

 

How much did the two share? 

 

Nature versus nurture and all that.  With the same circumstances, would they have turned out exactly the same?  

 

Pidge had a lot of questions, and if she wasn’t so focused on astrophysics and engineering, she’d consider those questions for the basis of a dissertation sometime in the future. 

 

Distance future, probably….  It was silly to think about those things when they weren’t even sure they’d make it out of the war…. 

 

Regardless.  Those were not things to think about now.  She could leave her potential future thesis thoughts for daydreaming before bed, and she could focus currently on the here and the now. 

 

The here and the now which was the sounds of brutal near-bloodshed fading behind her as she traveled down the hall.  The here and the now which was Hunk, walking rather quickly through the halls with a lost expression on his face. A man on a mission. 

 

“What’s wrong?” 

 

Hunk glanced up at her.  “Have you seen Keith anywhere?” 

  
  


\-------

  
  


They were very, very careful with their navigation systems.  Most of the planets they liberated were fairly easy access, and those they cared for by giving them a direct comm to the castle ship- the option for Voltron to save them if things went south. 

 

And tracking on the castle ship was mostly out of their hands.  All they could hope was to flee their enemies when fighting wasn’t an option.

 

But the navigation route to the rift in reality?  Very confidential information. A navigation route to the Blade of Marmora?  Even more so. 

 

Keith quickly got bored of the loops and turns and dead ends that made up the wild-goose-chase security measures protecting the Blade.  He knew where most of the turns were  _ supposed  _ to go, or at least had some pretty solid guesses. 

 

In the end it was nice, to be out on his own taking shortcuts and zipping around obstacles.  Felt like being a kid again, flying through the desert in Shiro’s dust trails and trusting himself to know the way back. 

 

It was fairly easy to find the Blade when he let his thoughts fade away and his instincts take over.  He pushed his scrappy little cruiser to fly as fast as it could and let himself get lost in the quietly ticking navigation line and sea of stars.  

 

As one particular star- a giant star flanked by two black holes- came into view, Keith blew of a breath of relief.  Now to get in, convince them he was supposed to be there, and get his information. If it were anywhere else in the world, he’d try to muscle the information out of them.  But experience told him that when dealing with the Blade of Marmora, charging in screaming was not his best strategy. 

 

He really needed some practice.

 

He sat up properly in his seat as he got closer, hyping himself up for a flight path he’d nearly killed himself on in the Red Lion, which steered with a hair-trigger and responded immediately to any command.  The cruiser he was in right now was far from graceful, but it would have to do. 

 

He steeled himself, tightened his hands on the controls, and dove in head first- thoughts of his mission distracting him from the realization that the Blade of Marmora hadn’t hailed him to ask his intentions.  Hadn’t noticed him at all. 

 

Which was direly suspicious, considering the Blade of Marmora noticed everything.

  
  
  


\----------

  
  


Two and a half hours into the fight found Hunk and Pidge doing their best to search for Keith without raising suspicions.  It was fairly easy with most of the castle being absorbed in the fight, but Hunk’s frantic worrying was doing nothing to settle Pidge’s nerves. 

 

“He’s seemed really off the last few days, y’know?  And yeah, I know he just got back from being kidnapped, and he almost died, but that’s even  _ more reason _ to be worried.  But everyone’s just giving him space, which yeah he makes it pretty easy when he’s being all prickly and hiding, but he probably  _ really _ needs someone to talk to, and what if he’s hiding somewhere because he’s having a flashback?  Y’know, like Shiro does sometimes when he spaces out and just kind of loses it? Remember that video feed you showed me where he punched Sendak’s pod thing?  What if Keith is going around punching pod things!?” 

 

Pidge felt her eye twitch.  She steepled her fingers in front of her and let out a long breath.  “Hunk…” she said with as much patience as she could muster, which wasn’t much.  Patience had never been her strong suit. “You need to chill out.” 

 

“But what if-” 

 

“What are you two doing?” 

 

Shiro speaking quite loudly and suddenly behind her startled Pidge out of her skin.  She leapt- and maybe she should be thankful that her fear response was ‘flee’ rather than something useless, like ‘freeze’- bumping into Hunk as she did so.  Hunk rung his hands nervously, totally blowing their cover. 

 

“Playing with the mice,” Pidge lied. 

 

At the same time Hunk said, “We can’t find Keith!” 

 

Pidge turned to glare daggers at him.  

 

“Keith is playing with the mice?” Shiro asked, and Pidge decided officially that she was surrounded by idiots.  She needed a nap. Maybe she’d hit Allura up on that ‘girls’ night’ she’d offered once. It might be nice to get away from the boys. 

 

“No, the mice are fine.  Keith is  _ missing _ ,” Hunk clarified, then shifted his weight from foot to foot, mouth screwing up and eyes averting.  “Say, Shiro…” he started. “Have you noticed anything off with him? Has he talked to you? He’s been… weird lately.” 

 

“Weird?” Shiro asked.  

 

“Distant.  Quiet.”

 

“He’s always like that.”

 

“He’s seemed upset.” 

 

Shiro carded his hand through his hair and tugged at it.  Pidge really wasn’t digging the new haircut. It made him look… kind of like Buzz Lightyear, and she wasn’t sure that was a good thing.  “Keith needs to learn to reach out to people. If he needs to talk, he’ll find somebody. I’m sure he’s fine.” 

 

“But he’s  _ missing _ ,” Hunk insisted. 

 

Shiro turned and started back down the hallway, the same way he’d came.  “Check the abandoned rooms on the third level,” he suggested. “But really, sometimes he just needs space.” 

 

And just like that, Shiro was gone.  Pidge glanced over sideways at Hunk, who was worrying on his bottom lip and staring off down the hallway. 

 

“You’re not going to want to hear this,” he said.  “But I think something’s off with Shiro.”

  
  
  
  


\---------

  
  


Something was off with the base.  Keith could feel it the moment he set down and his nerves settled.  It only took eight near death experiences and one moment of genuinely considering if he should just let himself be burned to a crisp before he made it to the base, but he did make it.  

 

With flying like that, he’d better be promoted straight to officer if he ever made it back to the Garrison.

 

The strange thing, he noticed right away, was the ship parked right out in the open.  Keith kept his eyes on it as he pulled his own away, tucking it off in a secluded corner and hoping gravity was strong enough to keep it from rocketing away without him.  

 

It was a bit of a hike from his parking space to the entrance he was familiar with.  He had to put his climbing skills to good use and scale up the side of the rocky terrain, but seeing as it wasn’t the most perlous thing he’d done in the last thirty minutes, he didn’t let himself fret. 

 

He made it to the top and laid low, doing his best to creep up on the ship in an obstacle-free, flat field of space.  It was empty, the engine was cool, and it looked like it’d been dragged past every corner of the universe. 

 

He found a door that was locked but unguarded, which was really the final sign that something was wrong.  The Blade was nothing if not prepared, and secret base or not, they kept the place locked tight. He shouldn’t have been able to jimmy open an entrance with his knife without being immediately slammed to the ground by no fewer than three Blade members. 

 

Something was wrong, making Keith’s hair stand up on edge, his stomach churn.  He needed to go in and investigate, but….

 

But he wasn’t going to let his pride turn him into an idiot.  Despite the past horrible day, he trusted his team to have his back.  Even if he didn’t want it. 

 

Something singing in his veins suggested his just might need it.  

 

Keith sent out a distress signal straight from his suit, activated his Blade, and crept inside.  Looks like he was getting a ride back home anyways. Let’s see if he couldn’t get some answers first.

  
  
  


\-------

 

They were nearing the fourth quintent when the ceiling exploded in an ear splitting racket.  “It’s a distress signal!” Allura announced, taking off for the command deck. Akira watched her go, watched as his Leader and Keith’s dropped their fight cold, and deciding that situation was as settled as it was ever going to be, he took off after the others.  

 

“He’s not answering!” was the first thing he heard when he stepped into the command deck.  

 

“What do you mean he’s not answering?” Coran replied to a frantically typing Pidge.  “He sent the signal out, didn’t he?” 

 

“His suite did, yes, but why is it hailing from the Blade of Marmora?” Allura questioned. 

 

“I knew it!” Hunk shouted to no one inparticular.  “I knew it! I could just  _ feel it _ , you know?”

 

Shiro stepped into the bridge behind him, and Akira stepped out of the way to make space.  This wasn’t his team or his mission. He didn’t want to get in the way. 

 

“He’s not here?” Shiro asked, and the glare Pidge shot at him suggested she was moments away from pouncing and going for his throat. 

 

“No,” she said, and she would have growled if these humans made those noises. “He’s not.” 

 

“Someone could have stolen the suit,” Lance offered, and was shut down quickly as the conversation raged.  The command deck filled quickly, all Galran ship members crowding into the room as well. Kolivan-  _ their _ Kolivan, who was looking pretty worse for wear with tired posture, labored breathing, and a few patches of blood matted fur- pushed into the center of the room and stood by Princess Allura as the two started pouring over their options.  Antok-  _ their _ Antok- brought up the rear as he tended to here, which was strange.  Back home his position was unfailingly at Kolivan’s side. 

 

Akira’s own people wrapped around the side of the room.  Kolivan strode over, not sparing Akira a second glance. Akira lowered his head and let Ulaz pass by before falling into line.  He couldn’t expect Kolivan’s forgiveness so quickly, not after everything he’d done. Not after pure and deliberate betrayal, good intentions or not. 

 

“Everybody hold on!” was Allura’s only warning before the ship shot into hyperspeed, got sucked into a wormhole, and shot them across the galaxy.  Akira could feel Kolivan’s uncomfort radiating off of him, and he understood. They were much, much farther from their entrance point, and with the chances of them making it back to their own reality already being shaky at best, this only added to the anxiety. 

 

But Kolivan said nothing, because there was nothing to be said.  Akira hoped to one day be that sensical, be that brave. Trust himself enough to know he could roll with the punches, even if those punches broke the laws of physics.  Kolivan did nothing that might upset his underlings, and Akira admired him for it. 

 

He also admired the other Kolivan, though, as he quickly rattled off a plan of action.  The base floating before them, looking the same as ever. Akira immediately felt homesick, and Kolivan made it immediately known that something was wrong.

 

“The flight in is dangerous.  We will go together in a smaller craft and split up on foot, advance on all points of entrance.  Go in silent but heavy. Allura, have the canon ready on my command.” 

 

A brief argument broke out, the two of them spiffing not over who was giving orders, but the implication those orders contained. 

 

“The paladins will make it out,” Kolivan assured.  “But it is better for the Blade to die with their secrets than have them revealed.” 

 

“Victory or death…” Hunk murmured under his breath. 

 

The team nodded the ascent. 

 

“He didn’t take his lion.  Lance, you will fly the Red Lion into the base,” Shiro said, taking charge when the plan seemed to idle a moment.  

 

“What!?” Lance immediately squawked, and it amazed Akira how they had the option to  _ argue _ against  _ orders _ in this universe.  “I can’t fly into that!”

 

“What happened to the Taylor?” Pidge said, voice teasing but joke making no sense.  Lance sent a glare her way. 

 

“This isn’t the time for jokes, Pidge,” Hunk grumbled.  Shiro nodded. 

 

“To the Red Lion,” Shiro commanded, heading that way.  The others hesitated a step. Lance stood rooted to the spot, mouth hanging open. 

 

“Shiro, I  _ can’t _ .  We’ll never make it through that, I’m not- Even  _ Keith _ could barely handle it!” he argued.

 

Shiro’s response was immediate and violent and much more merciful than Akira would have expected.  “I don’t remember giving you that option!” Shiro barked. “The Red Lion is the only one capable of making that flight, and you’re the only one it responds to.” 

 

“Black could do it!” Lance argued with the same amount of authority in his voice, which was just as surprising as everything else.  He didn’t know these people well enough to be surprised by anything. “You could fly her! She’s  _ your  _ lion!”

 

“No- I can’t, Lance,” Shiro said, voice hard as if they’d had this conversation before.  Akira hadn’t heard it. He stared Lance down. Lance stared back. Like two lions circling each other. 

 

“Why not?” he asked.  Shiro’s face fell, then harded.  He clenched his fists.

 

“Fine.”  He turned and stormed from the room.  Everyone else followed. 

 

He supposed it made sense that black armor matches to the Black Lion, although Akira could have been wrong about that too.  Afterall, Keith was the one who showed up in the Black Lion in the first place, but he’d also said it wasn’t his ship. He’d said that while bleeding out and delirious, but he’d still said it. 

 

If armor color matched lion color, that didn’t explain why Lance was expected to fly the Red Lion, or why Shiro had been sitting silently in the Black Lion for nearly thirty ticks. 

 

“What is he  _ doing _ in there?” Allura wondered aloud, and shortly after Shiro came storming back down the entrance ramp.  

 

“It’s not going to work,” he snapped.  “I  _ told _ you, so just get in your lion Lance, and stop fooling around.” 

 

Lance flinched back at Shiro’s words, but he also hardened his jaw and narrowed his eyes.  Akira wasn’t interested in the argument that was going to take place, and he didn’t have Kolivan and Ulaz holding him firmly in place with all the chaos.  He let himself wander forward and follow his curiosities, eyes sweeping over the massive form of the Black Lion slumped lifelessly on the floor of the main hangar.  

 

Just it’s paw was taller than Akira was, and while it might have been metal, Akira had the feeling that if he reached out and touched he would feel life thrumming under his fingers.  He didn’t even think about it, wasn’t hoping for anything, as he brushed his hand over the paw of the Black Lion. 

 

That’s why it startled him so badly when the thing jolted, creaked, and roared to life.  He sprawled flat on his back, knees drawn up and hands splayed on the floor for balance, as he stared up at the full height and glory of the now thrumming Black Lion. 

 

Ulaz dropped to his side and dragged him back, further from the possibility of being crushed underfoot.  Akira staggered to his feet and found it hard to get his balance. That voice was back, full volume and swelling in his chest, overwhelming him. 

 

‘ _ Go _ .’ 

 

“Red isn’t respondi-” Lance started to say as he trotted down the ramp from the Red Lion.  He stopped in his tracks, however; his eyes flitted from the crowd to the person they were all staring at, Akira.  The looked at the Black Lion and physically put two-and-two together. 

 

“That’s more quiznacking like it!” he cheered, throwing a fist in the air and running their way.  “All aboard, let’s go!” 

 

Akira wasn’t sure of his actions, wasn’t sure of his place in all of this.  He felt the urge from the lion, and as much as Akira was accustomed to following commands, he also felt it his place to ask for permission.  

 

He glanced at Princess Allura and the Kolivan standing at her side.  She nodded, once. “She’s chosen you.” Kolivan nodded as well, stepped forward, and headed towards the ramp to the ship.  Akira hurried after him. 

 

His Leader’s voice cut him off midstep.  “Do not dare!” he roared. “You will not place yourself into that  _ thing _ once again, let alone with these foreigners, and not on a mission to save the scoundrel who invaded our base!” 

 

Akira felt his stomach melting out and draining through his boots as he watched his Leader march towards him.  The Lion spoke again in his gut, solidifying him.  _ ‘Trust me _ ,’ it said, then, ‘ _ Hurry. _ ’  

 

Time moved in slow motion as the new Kolivan reached out to create a barrier between Akira and the man he called Father, but Akira did not need someone fighting his battles for him.  Perhaps this was the mountain Akira was willing to die on. Perhaps he truly had a death wish. 

 

He had to, for the way he held Kolivan’s gaze as he drew his Blade, holding it out before him and stopping his Leader right at the tip.  “Somebody needs our help,” he said, voice unrecognizable to his own ears, “There is nothing you can do to stop me.” 

 

He pulled his Blade back and took a step away, going to turn.  He just about made it to the ramp when his Leader spoke, “I will follow your lead,” he announced, stepping forward to join him.  Akira glanced up at his Leader, checking for honesty in a situation that did not seem plausible and finding no deception. He nodded once, a determined grin on his face.

 

“Let’s go.” 

  
  
  


\-------------

  
  


Kolivan was not sure how he felt about handing over the mission to a boy with such little flight experience, especially when Lance had seemed adamant about the danger of the journey.  He’d learned from his time with the paladins that Lance was often more serious than he was given credit for, and that he often had wisdom behind his words. 

 

Then again, he also should have learned by now not to question the will of the Lions.  If team Voltron trusted them so sincerely, then Kolivan ought to as well. 

 

Trust was not one of his virtues.

 

That being said, in order to distract himself from their possible impending doom Kolivan crossed the short distance of the Red Lion’s cockpit and approached his doppleganger.  He stepped in too close for comfort, and when his target didn’t back up in submission, Kolivan held his ground. 

 

“My cub, my people, and my entire way of life is at stake hear.”  He spoke in Galran and kept his voice low, barely above a whisper.  “If you have any part of undoing this mission, rest assured that you will be undone at my hand.”

 

That was all that needed to be said, and when the other Kolivan didn’t respond in any visible way, he stepped back and made his way back to Antok’s side.  Ulaz was staring at him, eyes intent and a little bit sad, and Kolivan hoped with every fiber of his being that Ulaz did not know something he didn’t. 

  
  


\---------------

  
  


When Keith was little, he hadn’t thought it was strange that he could see in the dark.  He’d notice his dad bumping into things and swearing in the night, and he’d always teased him over it, but he hadn’t realized until ending up at the orphanage that seeing in the dark was not a universal human experience. 

 

In his current situation, Keith was more than grateful for the Galran ability.  The halls were pitch black around him, silent enough to roar as his ears searched desparately for any clue of life. 

 

There was definitely life there- he could feel it with every hair on his body- but there was nothing tangible.  Nothing he could save, or fight. 

 

He crept silently, the way he’d been taught to, as he made his way through the winding halls.  He didn’t know what he was looking for or what he was getting into, but he knew the moment he turned down a hall that he absolutely was not alone anymore. 

 

A shadow shifted at the corner of his vision, and he had just enough time to turn and raise his Blade before being slammed into a wall.  He forced his Blade in front of him, clashing with that of his attacker, and they found themselves at a standstill- blade to blade, nose to nose, both in a place they did not belong. 

 

The attacker was not wearing Blade of Marmora clothing.  Their helmet and suit was nondescript, grays and blacks and a hint of orange.  Keith had a feeling like this ought to be familiar, but it was hard to think while attempting to hold his own and keep their blade away from his throat. 

 

The voice that spoke was female.  “Where are the others!?” she snapped, voice quiet and slightly garbled from the helmet.  Keith gulped, struggled to shove her away, and failed. 

 

“What are you talking about?” he asked, earning more force crushing him into the wall.  He tried to kick out one of her legs. It didn’t work. 

 

“The other members of your organization.   _ Where are they _ ?” 

 

“I don’t know!” Keith choked out.  She stepped back, grabbing onto him before he could make a single move and using leverage and a wicked arm bar to throw him to the floor.  He ripped three, rolled. She lept at him to pin him, and he planted his foot at her hip and tossed her over head, immediately scrambling to get his feet under him and darting after her.  Something sharp shot through his arm, and he dodged the next small blade she threw in the knick of time. A third blade, and he rolled away from it, wasn’t fast enough on the recovery, found himself sprawled stomach down with a blade against his throat, wrenching his head back. 

 

“I’ll give you a chance to save yourself,” she spoke directly into his ear.  He huffed, tossed his head to pull free, felt the knife start to break skin. “We have been looking for the Blue Lion for deca-phoebs, but apparently your reality has already found it.  You sent Blade members to protect it, so tell me now  _ where did you recover it _ and  _ how do you activate it _ ?  I don’t have all day.” 

 

“I don’t know…” Keith choked out, “...what you’re talking about….” 

 

“There was a file that incinerated as soon as it opened.  It said ‘earth.’  _ Where is that? _ ” she snapped, pressing the Blade tighter.  Keith’s heart jumped at the word, and he felt her grip loosen minutely. 

 

“So you  _ do _ know what I’m talking about…” she mused. “Guess I’ll have to tease it out of you.” 

 

Keith reared back and prepared himself to throw an elbow, launch their weight and roll them into a better position, but before he could even flinch to execute it, the pressure holding his head up dropped and his head smacked into the floor under him.  With a mighty roar, someone shot out of the shadows and tackled Keith’s attacker sideways, sending them both tumbling. 

 

A voice that was very much his own was shouting something in Galran, a language Keith could recognize but not speak.  Akira grappled with the attacker, and the two threw each other all over the hallway before Keith got to his senses and his feet and jumped in to help.  

 

“She’s from another reality,” he filled Akira in, doing his best to drag them all to a nearby airlock.  Akira had her by the throat, hands trapped and Blade preventing escape, and Keith had a firm hand in her hair as he propelled them all towards their one shot at winning this thing.  “She’s looking for the Blue Lion.” 

 

“Prince Lotor will have that lion!” she cried, and Keith gave a heave, launching them all backwards as his hand slammed onto the airlock pannel.  He tried to catch them, but he overbalanced and she grabbed him as she flew through the opening, dragging Keith and subsequently Akira out with her.  

 

Keith managed to snag a hand on the lip of the airlock gateway while Akira stayed tangled up with the attacker, fighting in open space and being tugged at by the gravity of the massive star nearby.  Keith grabbed Akira at the last second, fingers just barely grasping his uniform, and he tugged him in. Akira grabbed the lip of the airlock, but their attacker was still clawing her way up his body, trying to throw him out while climb back into safety. 

 

Keith could have climbed back into the airlock.  He had an opening. But Akira had saved him countless times.  Not returning the favor could not be considered an option. He pulled Akira firmly to safety, the other boy’s chest slamming into the airlock floor.  Keith pushed off of him with all his legs’ strength, launching himself backwards and dragging the attacker with him as the two of them hurdled into space. 

 

She drew a knife.  She swung. He barely avoided being stabbed.  The gravity increased, pulling at his every fiber, and he kicked her away.  

 

Safe from the threat of danger, there was nothing to grab onto.  There was no telling which way was up or down with how fast he was spinning.  The star was growing closer, filling up his whole visual field. His skin burned.  He was going to die. He-

 

He couldn’t breathe.  Something large and heavy slammed into him, and Keith found himself being crushed under a concrete-like arm.  He gasped, glanced up at whoever had a hold of him now, ready to fight- 

 

It was Kolivan, but… but not his Kolivan.  He considered kicking free, risking his luck with the star, when a deep rumbling sensation coming from deep within Kolivan’s chest coursed through him, and Keith very quickly found himself subdued.  

 

Kolivan drew what looked like a pistol and launched a grappling line through space.  It just barely made it through the airlock opening. Just barely grabbed onto something. 

 

Keith looked down, saw his attacker getting swallowed into a ship and zipped off to safety faster than the speed of light.  They disappeared in a flash, and a few ticks later Keith was being hauled back through the airlock onto solid ground. 

 

Kolivan dropped him, and Keith collapsed on the ground gasping for air.  The airlock slammed closed. Akira sat next to him, trembling, tether line still clutched tightly in his hand. “Let me see,” a voice commanded, and Keith didn’t protest as a clawed hand peeled back his mask and peered into his eyes, checked him for cuts, felt along his bones.  They stayed there, the three of them, finding the will to move until others started to appear. Blade members and Voltron members alike popped out of the framework and information began to spread. 

 

Four attackers, yes.  They snuck in without detection and shut down all the power systems.  They’d all been taken care of- two killed, two escaped. 

 

What had they been looking for? 

 

“They’re looking for Earth,” Keith spoke for the first time when the question arose, voice hoarse and throat on fire from the sun.  A crowd of stunned faces turned to him as Keith struggled to push himself upright, found Antok suddenly standing behind him and sagging against his leg once he was less horizontal.  “The alternate Earth,” he explained. Then frowned and looked the room over. “Who’s Lotor?” 

\---------------

\-----------------------

\---------------

 

 

 

"So you're going to Earth...." 

 

"Somebody has to protect it." 

 

"Just funny that you're going there before any of us...  I hope it works out for you." 

 

"Maybe Dad is alive."

 

Keith huffed out a single laugh.  "Heh.  Yeah." 

 

He and Akira sat side by side on the nose of the Black Lion, feet dangling stories above the waiting castle mates below.  They'd made it back to the castle after getting everything at the Blade of Marmora back in order.  It had taken quite a while for the debriefer, since Kolivan wanted to know  _how exactly_ the base had been weak enough to get infiltrated by three unknown missionaries.  The Blade had also drilled them with questions about the new-comers, especially Akira's Kolivan.  They'd been quietly shaken by the presence of Ulaz. 

 

"Do they know yet?" Keith asked, nodding down to the shapes of Ulaz and Kolivan milling around, talking with the others.  Akira nodded. 

 

"There is nothing they can do to stop me," he said, voice firm.  "I think they understand that this one is... bigger... than just a normal mission.  The mission before the individual.  If Lotor got his hands on the Blue Lion, or... if he attacked Earth.... Those are my people, as much as the Blade is, and it's my duty to protect them."  

 

His words resonated deeply with Keith, and Keith found himself unable to string together a proper response to the sentiment.  They sat in silence for a long, long moment.  It was only a matter of time before the others got impatient and started shouting for them to get a move on already. 

 

"Are you going to go after your mother again?  Or... _our_ mother."

 

Keith found himself grinning.  He'd almost forgotten his half-assed reason for leaving the castle in the first place.  He hadn't been able to lie to them, couldn't make himself say that he knew there was something wrong with the Blade and had gone to investigate.  That wouldn't have been a proper excuse anyways.  Keith hadn't told him his real reason either, not in so many words, but it was easier talking to Akira than to anyone else.  Despite the culture difference and occasional language barriers, it was almost like Akira always knew what he was going to say before he said it, or what he meant when Keith couldn't put his thoughts properly into words.

 

Still, Keith's explanation of his behavior had been lacking on many fronts and he'd gotten his ear chewed by Kolivan, Allura,  _and_ the Paladins for the entire trip back to the castle ship.  He'd even heard it from Coran once he'd gotten on board, and Antok was making that disgruntled humming noise of displeasure he was known to make.  Keith was properly chastised, but the world made a bit more sense despite the wicked sunburn.

 

"I'm going to train with the Blade of Marmora," he said, shaking his head.  "I think... watching you has shown me there's a lot I need to learn still."  He glanced down at the floor far below them, saw the tiny shape of Shiro standing off by himself, propped against a wall and away from the others. 

 

"I would do more good there than I would here," he said.  

 

"I wish you success." 

 

"Thanks.  You too." 

 

With not much left to say, Keith patted the Black Lion's nose and said, "Alright, we're ready to go."  Black lowered them carefully to the ground until they were able to hang off the edge and drop back down into the hangar.  Keith dusted himself off.  Akira stretched his arms over his head and yawned. 

 

"You're sure this is going to work?" Allura asked Pidge, Ulaz, and Coran, who were all pouring over a datapad and double checking for the tenth time.  

 

"It has to," Pidge answered.  "The Black Lion has generated these rifts before.  If she can take them in, she can bring them back out." 

 

"It will be fine," Akira assured them. 

 

It was a short trip back to the alternate universe.  A quick float through space, a dive through a portal, and a dizzy second of catching their balance.  A majority of the Blade members were out and on guard, probably recognizing the lion from the first time around and puzzling at it's reappearance.  Black lowered her head and opened her mouth, forming the ramp for them to step out of.  Keith followed them to the top and paused there, not ready to go any farther.  Ulaz patted him on the back as he went, and Kolivan gave him a nod.  Akira started to step down the ramp, then turned back and flung his arms around Keith's shoulders, making him stumble back off-balance. 

 

"I will miss you," Akira said, squeezing Keith tight.  Keith blinked a few times, then found his arms and hugged him back, and then he was gone.  

 

Keith stood there at the top of the ramp in silence until a voice in the cockpit called out to him. 

 

"You are not thinking of staying back in this universe, are you?" Kolivan said, probably teasing.  Keith huffed a laugh and shook his head, meandering back up the ramp with dragging feet.  

 

"No," he said, "Just saying goodbye." 

 

Kolivan's hand was heavy where it settled on Keith's head, and Keith couldn't help but find himself smiling.  His dad had done that, when Keith was little and his whole head could fit perfectly under his dad's palm.  Kolivan ruffled his hair, and Keith felt warm inside.  Happy to be alive for the first time in a while.  

 

"Let's get home then, shall we?" Kolivan said, and Keith ducked free.  He plopped himself into the pilot's seat and curled his hands around the controls, and it felt natural.  Black purred underneath him.  Keith breathed a sigh of relief.

 

"Yeah," he said.  "Let's go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll always think of a bunch of stuff I wanna say about the story when I'm writing it, and then forget them all when I get to the notes.......... 
> 
> Either way, I hope you like how this turned out. I'm actually pretty pleased with it myself. I appreciate the comments you guys left on the chapter before this one, you're amazing!


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